


The Dawn of Our Love

by Butterfly553



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Arguing, Cats, Dating, Denial of Feelings, Doubt, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fear of Robots, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Ice Skating, Kissing, Love Confessions, Mentions of Kisaragi Aine - Freeform, Painting, Road Trips, Shyness, Stalking, Storms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 17:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13839603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly553/pseuds/Butterfly553
Summary: Previously known as 'Quartet Night Love Story'The four QUARTET NIGHT members get paired up with the four DAWN members and they face changes.Reiji is conflicted and confused.Ai turns into a stalker.Ranmaru gets to hang out with some cats.Camus is... well he's Camus.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Reiji is 25, Ranmaru is 22, Camus is 20 and Ai is 20.

It had only been a few months since the no romance ban was lifted for people over 20 and to be honest, the idols of Shining Entertainment weren't sure what to do about it. There were a few of the idols that were interested in someone else who worked there but most of them decided to not try to pursue anything in case it would cause issues with each other. Like STARISH for example, they all liked Nanami but they decided to not go after her for the sake of their friendships. However there were a few that did indeed wish to go after their crush, and Adryn, Ember, Serin, and Arcadia are just a few of them. The four of them make up an idol group called DAWN. 

Adryn is a 21-year-old who used to be in a band as the band's lead singer and lead guitar player. She also writes short stories and wishes to publish a novel one day. She is not only an idol but also a composer, which is why she is living in the same dorm room as Nanami as her mentor. The two get along fairly well even though their personalities are nowhere near similar. Adryn has been a huge fan of QUARTET NIGHT for a while now and she is an even bigger fan of Reiji Kotobuki. Though she tries to keep both her love for QUARTET NIGHT and Reiji Kotobuki a secret as she finds it way too embarrassing to admit she is a fan of them. She is also a fan of STARISH and HEAVENS, but not nearly as much. Adryn has a hard time making friends, so she is only acquainted with all of them, however, she actually is friends with HEAVENS as she wrote a few of their songs at one point. Her and Ember have been friends since they were 6 years old and treat each other as if they are sisters. Mostly everyone who sees them thinks they are twins anyway, so they tend to just go along with it.

Ember is a 21-year-old who got her start in singing anime openings and closings. She is an artist who aspires to create her own manga while also being an idol. She lives in the room next to Nanami and Adryn. She is a fan of QUARTET NIGHT and STARISH and is friends with all of them, however, she isn't a fan of HEAVENS that much and strongly dislikes most of them. She is especially close to Ai (age: 20). She knew instantly that he was a robot and told him about it, which fascinated him as no one had been able to tell what he was so quickly, not that many people even know in the first place. Ember is open with her fangirling moments over the things she's a fan of. She doesn't have someone to mentor, but she does give Tomochika advice every now and then as the two of them share the dorm room together. 

Serin is a 21-year-old who is new to the idol business. She went to the academy to get to where she is now all because she saw one of Ranmaru Kurosaki's concerts. When she saw him as an idol, she wanted to be like him and decided to try to be an idol even though she didn't really like singing with other people all that much. She isn't familiar with QUARTET NIGHT's music or STARISH's and definitely doesn't know anything about HEAVENS, she only listens to anything with Ranmaru Kurosaki in it. Serin isn't close with Ember or Adryn but she seems to get along with Arcadia well enough that they speak to each other, rather than just be in the same room and tolerate each other. They share a dorm room together since they were able to get along so well and are fairly new to being an idol. 

Arcadia is a 21-year-old who was only brought into the idol business on orders from her parents. They thought she was too quiet and lonely and made the decision to send her away to the academy. To her surprise, she was decent at writing lyrics and singing and agreed to go along with it. She still would rather be behind the camera and out of the public eye, but the support from her fellow group mates helps her go along with it. At first, she didn't care at all about the others working for Shining Entertainment but then she saw one of Camus' performances and fell in love with his look. She isn't too fond of his actual personality however and most days she would rather smack the attractiveness off of him, but still, she is a fan of him. She is slowly becoming a fan of STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT as well, but she has a hard time getting past the "way too happy" people that both the idol groups have in them, meaning Reiji Kotobuki, Natsuki Shinomiya, and Otoya Ittoki. She is only vaguely aware of HEAVENS existence. 

Like the members of QUARTET NIGHT, the members of DAWN didn't get along too well. They were on a worse level than the guys though, as the guys can work together while the girls can barely be in the same room together without arguing. That is how the 8 of them ended up in Shining's office late at night after being summoned by Ringo and Hyuga. The president himself wasn't there, as he was off doing more important things. 

"So since you four cannot get along, and you other four have an even worse time getting along, Shining decided to mix things up a bit." Ringo started, cheerfully once all the members of QUARTET NIGHT and DAWN were in the room.

"By mixing things up, it means you eight will be put in pairs and will exclusively work with that partner until you can learn to appreciate the members of your group and get along with people better." Hyuga continued after Ringo spoke. 

"The new groups will be Adryn and Reiji, Ember and Ai, Serin and Ranmaru and Arcadia and Camus. Good luck." Ringo finished, smiling as if he just gave everyone some good news. With that, both the flamboyant man and the calm one left the room, leaving the 8 idols alone with each other.

"Um, what?" Adryn mumbled, reeling from the new situation.

"This is your fault." Serin suddenly snapped at Adryn. "If you didn't have such a bad attitude towards everyone we'd get along a lot better."

"My bad attitude has nothing to do with this. It was known from the start that I hate generally everyone. It's you and Arcadia that's the problem."

"I agree with that," Arcadia admitted, knowing full well that she was difficult to get along with. "At least we can agree that Ember didn't contribute to the issue at hand." Arcadia was trying to lighten the situation up a bit, however, that backfired quickly.

"Really? She's the biggest problem. If she weren't so damn friendly then it wouldn't be as obvious that we aren't." Serin growled, turning her anger to the girl with the dyed pink hair. Cue Adryn's “sister-protect mode”.

"Don't blame her for this. It isn't her fault that she gets along with everyone no matter how annoying that is." Adryn said, defending her friend which honestly wasn't bothered by the comment. It was a natural reaction for both of them to defend each other, so it was expected to happen.

"Should we stop them?" Reiji hesitantly asked Ember, as the 5 of them watched Adryn and Serin argue with Arcadia throwing out conflicting agreements.

"No, this is completely normal, they do this at least 3 times a day, on a good day. Unless they start physically fighting we should leave them alone." Ember said, assuring the worried male. 

"You mean they have physical fights? Like they throw punches and draw blood?" Ranmaru questioned, honestly a little shocked at that. Ember nodded her head, acting as if it was completely normal.  
"Such undignified and appalling behavior. How dare they act like this, it will give us a bad reputation if we have to work with them." Camus scoffed, offended at the situation. 

"We might behave "undignified" and “appalling” but at least we don't have an ice sickle shoved up our asses like you pretty boy." Arcadia snapped at the icy-eyed man, shocking the boys in the room. Even though she was quite shy when she got annoyed with anyone she tended to show another side to her, a much different side.

"Oh god Arc, you can't suddenly say that to people," Serin mumbled at her side, bursting into laughter at the offended and horrified look on Camus' face. Serin wasn't the only one laughing, Ranmaru, Adryn, and Ember were dying of laughter. Ember was nearly in tears and had to hold onto a chair to not fall over. Reiji was chuckling at the comment but tried to hold it in to avoid Camus' wrath. Even Ai was finding the situation a bit funny, but it wasn't as obvious. 

"How dare you." Camus finally spoke once the initial shock wore off. No one had ever spoken that way to him before and to hear such language from a shy girl was just as shocking. Camus descended into an argument with the shy girl as Adryn and Serin's fight started up again, causing chaos throughout the group. Suddenly a loud “Hey!” boomed throughout the room, causing everyone to fall instantly silent.

"Okay, this is getting out of hand. Why don't we all get to bed and deal with this in the morning?" Ember finally said, in her loud voice, trying to put an end to the situation before Adryn could join in with the vulgar insults like she would usually. 

"I agree," Reiji said, a little unnerved at how loud the pink haired girl was, before guiding his group mates out of the room while Ember guided her group mates out as well. They headed towards their dorm floors and that was the end of that little adventure, but also the beginning of a new one.


	2. Feeling Realization: Reiji

Adryn was woken up to Nanami calling her name. She wasn't sure why she just knew she didn't care enough to pay attention until she heard another voice. This one was male and was quieter as if speaking through a slightly open door.

 

"I'm sorry Kotobuki, she is ignoring me and refuses to wake up again," Nanami said through the partially open door as Adryn thought. Adryn hesitantly opened her eyes and peeked over the side of her bed to where the girl was or at least where she thought the girl was. Nanami happened to look at her at that moment. "Oh, it seems she actually did wake up."

 

"No, I didn't." Adryn quickly said before covering herself with her blue blankets. She heard a few more sentences before footsteps leaving which she assumed were the male's, however she was wrong.

 

"Oh? I didn't realize blankets could talk." Reiji's voice was right next to Adryn's bed now, causing her to slightly panic and yelp before uncovering her top half and sitting up. She was wearing a tank top and shorts, so she was considerably more exposed than usual, which was embarrassing, but she chose to ignore it at the moment.

 

"Why are you in my room? Where is Haruka?" Adryn asked, looking around the room to find her roommate gone, not that she could have seen anyway. She wasn't able to see much at all because she needed contacts or glasses to see, which she had neither at the moment, but she could see enough to tell that Reiji was looking around her side of the room.

 

"She had to get to a job, so she left you in my care." Reiji simply said, picking up a picture frame that was on your desk. It was of you and Ember when you both celebrated your 18th birthdays together. You were smiling in it, which wasn't something most people got to see ever. "Since we are now working together on everything, I was told that for next individual songs, you will be joining me, creating a duet. So I was told to inform you of the change."

 

"I see. Well, that's fine. I actually forgot I was supposed to write myself a song so I never even bothered starting it." Adryn laughed as she climbed down from the bunk bed she slept on the top of. She went to her dresser with all her clothes and began to look through them, even though she couldn't see much without her contacts in. "So are you going to leave, or are you going to just stand there and watch me change?" Adryn questioned, turning to look at the man who was now finding her QUARTET NIGHT CD she had.

 

"You're a fan?" Reiji questioned the girl, holding up the CD case.

 

"I can't see what you're holding, I have terrible vision without my contacts," Adryn informed the man. She walked closer, leaving her clothes undecided for now. She finally was able to see what he was holding when she stood by his side and when she did, she just chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am a fan. It's only a recent thing though. I didn't really care until the concert with you guys, STARISH and HEAVENS. After that, I did start to be a fan." What Adryn said wasn't a lie, she didn't like QUARTET NIGHT before the concert, however, she had been a fan of Reiji for a little while now, but she wasn't going to tell him that. Adryn began speaking again to stop the man from saying anything else. "Well, time to get out now. I need to get ready for the day so shoo." She took the CD from his hands, setting it down before putting her hands on his shoulders and spinning him around before pushing him out of the room.

 

"Meet me in the main hall after you are ready. We will discuss our song there." Reiji called as Adryn closed the door in his face.

 

"Sure." Was all Adryn said through the door, before walking away from it. She had to calm down, considering she just was in short shorts and a tank top in front of her crush which she talked to for nearly the first time ever. Not only that, but he found out that she was a fan of QUARTET NIGHT, which she didn't usually advertise for people. She just hoped that she didn't leave out anything to show that she was actually a huge fan of him or anything else that would embarrass her in any way.

 

Ignoring her fast-beating heart, Adryn decided to get ready for the day. She put her contacts in and changed into her usual clothes, a tank top (blue today), and black jeans along with her black and blue shoes. Once she had her clothes on and was ready to go, she decided to pack her bag with all the things she might need for the day, so she didn't have to come back and deal with it later. She put notebooks and pencils in her bag along with her car keys and phone along with other random things she figured she'd need through the day. After she checked things over once more and decided that she was ready to face the day, she left the room, closing the door behind her. It wasn't a far walk to the meeting place with Reiji but she took longer than necessary. She was enjoying the scenery outside as she walked by the windows. It was early morning and there were little birds flying around gathering things. It was cute to watch them pick up little sticks or random pieces of string like grass. The flowers and trees were beautiful and close to blooming soon. She got lost in the beauty of nature and made a mental note to go outside and enjoy it later on.

 

"I was starting to wonder if you were even coming." A voice spoke up, starling Adryn. She turned from the window she was at to see Reiji standing there. She had walked all the way to where he was without even realizing it.

 

"Sorry, I got distracted," Adryn admitted, moving to sit on the couch across from the one he was sitting on. She and him discussed the song they'd be writing together. They decided to focus on it after they knew each other a bit better. They knew the song they wrote together would be better if they knew each other well. Adryn wrote down the few things they talked about and they discussed their schedules. They had to plan on when to hang out and get to know each other better. Since the two had to work together for mostly everything, they had to see when they would have to appear on shows together or when they were supposed to make appearances together.

 

"You know, it feels like we're dating and planning our dates," Reiji said as the two stood up to walk away. Adryn's face flushed red and she turned to hide her face from him.

 

"Yeah, I guess it does. Well, I'll see you later. Goodbye." Adryn mumbled, quickly walking away from the man. He didn't even get a chance to say anything more, she was out of his sight before he could process her fleeing from him.

 

The two didn't see each other for a few days. Their next meeting was late one night after most everyone had fallen asleep. They met outside, in the gazebo next to the lake. It was a nice night, not too hot or cold and there were no clouds in the sky. Just in case though, Adryn brought a small battery powered lantern and a blanket to sit on. She was honestly a bit unnerved to be sitting there alone waiting for him. She had gotten overly excited and ended up getting there a bit early. However, she was a little blind in the dark so as the moments passed by she began to become afraid. She was never very good with the dark in the first place. She could swear something was in the trees watching her. She hoped nothing would come up out of the water and drag her ass somewhere. However, she was seeing figures everywhere that weren't actually there and that made everything worse for her.

 

"Hey there,-" Reiji was cut off by Adryn yelping out in panic. She held her hand over her heart as she stared at the man who suddenly appeared. Her sudden noise startled him as well.

 

"Don't just sneak up on me at night." She hissed out, though it was clear she was only annoyed since she got freaked out.

 

"Are you alright?" The male hesitantly asked, walking into the gazebo. He moved to sit down next to her, which was on the floor sitting on a blanket she had gotten out of her car.

 

"I don't like the dark. I should have brought more light than just a little lantern."

 

"You could have told me, and we could have let somewhere else."

 

"No, I wanted to be here. It's where I usually get inspiration for writing anything." Adryn admitted, reaching over to grab her bag of stuff. She pulled out a sparkly notebook and pulled out a sparkly blue gel pen with it.

 

"I never thought you'd be the type to have sparkly things Adryn." Reiji chuckled, not in a rude way, just amused. It caused the red head to blush.

 

"Yeah well, I like anything blue." Adryn retorted, opening the notebook to the first page. It was completely blank except for 'Reiji Kotobuki' at the top. "So...um before I start asking you things to get to know you, I was wondering something."

 

"What is it? Feel free to ask me anything."

 

"You give everyone nicknames, but you haven't given me one. Why is that?" Adryn was clearly embarrassed to ask that question so she turned to look away from the man sitting next to her. He hadn't expected that to be what was bothering her, he actually found it cute that she was worried about that.

 

“Hmm... I never really thought about it before. I think it's because I like your name.” Reiji informed the girl smiling at her. She turned to look at him, blushing but as soon as he looked at her she looked away again. He was faintly able to see the blush on her face causing him to smile again.

 

“So um... anyway, let's tell each other stuff so we can get to know each other. I'm going to write all the stuff about you down since I have a bad memory.”

 

“You do?”

 

“Yeah, it makes it difficult for when I have to appear on shows or something with a script.”

 

“I see. Can I have a piece of paper, I think I'll write down what I learn about you as well.” Adryn nodded her head and got him some paper and a pencil from her bag along with a clipboard for him to write on. “You sure came prepared.” He laughed as he accepted what she handed him.

 

“Yeah, I usually have a sudden urge to write something down for a story or a song so I bring a lot of writing supplies with me wherever I go.”

 

“That's a smart idea,” Reiji said, thinking about why he doesn't do the same thing. Adryn smiled at him, still slightly blushing, but decided to move on from it to continue their meeting and it seemed he had the same idea as he spoke up before she could. “So what was your job before working here?”

 

“Well, actually I was working for Raging Entertainment before this. I did some composing for HEAVENS and stayed in their compound for a while. However, before that, I was in a band of my own as the lead singer and guitar player.”

 

“Oh, that's interesting,” Reiji muttered as he wrote down the information about her. “So you knew HEAVENS before we all did?”

 

“Yeah, I knew them back when it was just the three original guys. Actually, Eiichi, the older of the Otori brothers and I dated for a while.”

 

“How'd that go?” Reiji cringed as he thought about the male who clearly had a few screws loose.

 

“Pretty well actually. He tried to be all crazy in the beginning with me but I wasn't having it. After a little while, he was pretty normal, well as normal as he can be.” Adryn laughed at the thought of how freaked out he was when she told him off about being too crazy to her.

 

“Do you mind if I ask something?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Why did you and him break up if everything was good?” Adryn turned to look away from him but he could see she was a little upset over the question.

 

“Well, actually it was my fault. He viewed me coming to Shining Entertainment as cheating since he knows I really like someone who works here, so we ended up getting into a fight over it which ended up with us deciding to end things. The fact that I began to help Nanami write for STARTISH didn't help anything either. However, it was mostly that I told him that my true motives for coming here were that I wanted to be with Ember again and work with her, along with the chance that I could finally talk to and possibly be friends with the guy I really like.” Adryn sadly told the male. He could tell that she was pretty sad about how things turned out with the crazy male. “But he and I are friends again and every so often I still go and hang out with everyone and write songs for them.” Things were quiet for a moment as Reiji processed all she had said. It was the most she ever said to him, so he was a little surprised. One major question lingered in his mind.

 

“Who do you like?” At his inquiry, Adryn squeaked in fear. She shook her head instantly and began to stutter as she changed the subject. She began to ask him things about his life. So the topic temporarily forgotten, the two went back to asking and answering things as they wrote down the answers. They did this for an hour before they realized that as it got later in the night, it was getting colder and neither were properly dressed for chilly weather.

 

“It's pretty late now. We should probably get back to our rooms.” Adryn commented as she began packing her belongings up.

 

“That's a good idea,” Reiji responded as he stood up. “So since we are supposed to work together now, that means that tomorrow when I appear on the live talk show, you'll be joining me, right?”

 

“Yeah.” She cringed as she thought about it, she clearly didn't sound happy about it though. “When do we have to be there?”

 

“We should be there at 10am and it was suggested to me by Ringo that we should take the same car, something about to show that we are getting along.” Reiji chuckled, causing Adryn to smile.

 

“Alright, if it's okay with you, we can take my car,” Adryn suggested looking up at the standing man. The moonlight was shining perfectly down on her, causing her to seemingly glow. It was captivating to the male who was looking at her.

 

“Alright, so we get there on time, we should probably leave around 9:30 so I'll meet you at the main entrance around 9:25,” Reiji confirmed, in awe over how the red-head was looking in the moonlight.

 

“See you then.” Adryn agreed, unaware of how the male was in shock over her. Reiji nodded and began to walk away before pausing. He turned back around and looked at the girl who was finishing packing up. She looked up at him confused. “What is it?”

 

“You said you don't like the dark, so I'll walk with you back to the dorms.”

 

“Thank you.” She was relieved to hear that from him, she wasn't sure she could handle it on her own, but she didn't want to say anything. With that, the two began to walk to the dorms in a comfortable silence. They didn't walk too fast or too slow and they didn't speak at all the whole way back, they just listened to the sound of nature that surrounded them. It was peaceful. Once they got to the stairs that led them to their dorms, they said goodnight and parted ways. As he approached his dorm room, he came across Ai standing at a window staring out at the moon. He looked deep in thought.

 

“Ai-Ai, everything okay?” Reiji questioned the male. He turned to look at him and it seemed like he was confused about something.

 

“Yes, I have no problems,” Ai responded simply before continuing. “However, Ember made a comment that full moons are the best to look at, especially on a night like this so I was trying to understand what she meant by it.”

 

“I see. You know Ai-Ai, you'll find out that women can be very confusing sometimes.” It was clear to the younger male that Reiji was speaking from experience.

 

“Do you have a problem with a woman right now?” Ai questioned, mildly curious as to what could possibly bother the usually happy male.

 

“It's Adryn. In my 25 years of living, I've never come across anyone like her.”

 

“The hot-headed, red-haired female that is best friends with Ember?” Reiji chuckled at Ai's description of the girl, as it was pretty accurate.

 

“Yeah, she seems different around me than with other people.”

 

“How so?”

 

“She blushes a lot and seems really nervous, which I thought she didn't get like with anyone.”

 

“From what Ember has told me and from my data about how females act, it seems that quite possibly Adryn has romantic feelings for you.”

 

“Huh?” Reiji was shocked as that wasn't even a possibility in his mind. He never thought that she could like him in a way like that. Though since it was put out there, Reiji thought about it deeply and came to the conclusion that Adryn was having feelings for him. The thought hit him as he remembered his conversation about why she and the HEAVENS male had broken up, he was the reason. “Thank you Ai-Ai...” Reiji told the younger male as he walked away. He finally made his way to his room and got ready for the night. He decided that for the time being, it would be best to not bring up the topic as he could tell that Adryn was the type to run away if she got spooked by him suddenly revealing that he knew she liked him. Besides, he needed to figure out his own feelings for the girl before he brought the topic up. He knew something was beginning inside of him towards the woman, he just wasn't sure what it was yet.


	3. Feeling Realization: Ai

Ember and Ai were friends nearly since the time they met. Since she could tell he was a robot right away, it caused Ai to develop a fascination with her. He was curious about how she was able to figure it out instantly and asked her multiple times, however every time she chose to not respond to the questions. She found it interesting to see how far he'd go to figure out why she knew, and why she wouldn't tell him. He had researched her thoroughly and found out many things about her, however, none helped him figure her out fully. Therefore Ai decided to finally take things to the extreme and began to follow her around to see if he could learn anything new that way. 

That's what led to a confused Nanami walking over to Ai, slightly concerned for his mental state. 

“Um, Mikaze, what are you doing?” Nanami questioned Ai as she stood next to him. Ai was currently hiding poorly behind a fern that sat in the hallway where the pink haired girl currently was sitting. Ember was lounging on one of the couches, she was originally writing a song for her or her group to perform, but she got the sudden inspiration to draw instead. She was so absorbed in her drawing that she was completely unaware that there was a person intensely watching her as she drew the blooming cherry blossoms. Ai may or may not have thought he was completely hidden from her view as he was looking at the back of her so she wouldn't be able to easily turn and look over at him. However, if she turned around completely, she would be able to see him quite easily as his hair stuck out brightly against the dark green of the plant he was hiding behind. 

“I'm watching her so I can find out something about her.” Ai simply responded, turning to look at Nanami. She looked confused and Ai wasn't sure why, as what he said made sense to him. 

“But why are you hiding behind a plant? You aren't hidden.” 

“I'm not.” It was both a statement and a question, however, Ai did nothing to change his position. Eventually, Nanami politely excused herself from the situation, still concerned for Ai but was too busy to continue the conversation. For about 15 more minutes, Ember continued drawing until she reached for her bag, only to realize that she hadn't brought her colored pencils with her. 

“Dammit.” She grumbled to herself as she began to put her items back into the large bag she carried. She was now planning on finishing up the drawing later in her room so she could properly color it. Once all her items were collected and put away she began to head back to her room. She turned around towards Ai and walked right past the fern where he was hiding, and then froze. Without turning around to face him, she began to speak to the robot. “Ai, care to tell me why you are hiding behind a plant?” 

“No.” 

“Alright then.” With that, the pink-haired girl continued to walk and disappeared from Ai's sight. She was quite confused, but Ai had a habit of doing things that were different, so she paid no mind to it. She would never have thought he was beginning to stalk her. She didn't even notice him following her as she returned to her room, however she did get the feeling that she was being followed but decided to ignore it. If whatever she felt was following her posed any threat to her, she would deal with it, but since Ai gave off no bad feelings towards her, she ignored his presence, even though she didn't realize it was him. 

The next few days went by and Ai followed her wherever she went. Well almost everywhere. He decided it was for the best to not follow her into her room as he didn't want to cause any issues with Ember's roommate and he also had the decency to not invade too far into her private life. However, he did follow her to her jobs, grocery shopping and even when she hung out with friends. During that time, he had found out plenty more about her but nothing about how she was able to figure him out instantly. 

At first, Ember had ignored the now constant nagging sensation of being followed, but as it continued to her workplace and the places she'd go for fun, she had begun to get upset by it. She was never able to see who or what was following her, so it had started to weigh down on the girl. She had some clue to who it was that was following her, but she didn't know why Ai would be following her like this. So Ember ended up writing him off as an unlikely suspect but kept the possibility in her mind. Finally, though, she decided to tell her sister about the situation when they were at a little coffee shop having lunch in with Adryn. 

“I seriously feel like someone is watching me. It's like there's always eyes on me and it's freaking me out. The only place I feel safe is in my room and it's really bothering me.” Ember informed her red-haired sister as they ate their food. “I mean I don't think the person is going to cause me any harm, but the constant feeling of being followed is starting to wear away at my nerves.” 

“Well, do you want my help with anything? You know I'm willing to kick someone's ass for you?” Adryn offered as she was now worried about her sister. 

“Maybe if it turns out to be some creep or something, but I don't think that's the case.” Ember tried to reassure her sister, but even she herself wasn't sure about the situation. 

“Do you know who it could be at least?” 

“Yeah maybe, but I'll handle it. Don't worry. I think they just don't realize how the situation is making me feel, so they won't stop until I confront them about it. Which I get the feeling will be very soon.” 

The two continued to chat about random things as Ai listened in and watched from a distance. Once they were done and paid for their food and drinks, they headed to their cars and went back to their jobs. Of course, Ai followed Ember the whole way and continued to follow her the rest of that day. However, it wasn't until later that night that Ember finally decided to confront her stalker. She had been in one of the practice rooms writing parts of the song she was supposed to be doing with Ai as part of their duet project. She had been doing it mostly alone as Ai was lately nowhere for her to see. It slightly bothered her that she hadn't gotten a chance to hang out with Ai since the pink-haired girl had begun to develop feelings for the robot. He, of course, didn't realize that as he wasn't completely aware of human emotions, at least not when they were involving him. 

So there Ember was, writing down song ideas as she felt the eyes on her again. She looked up at the windows to see no one there, meaning the only place they could be was the door. So all in a quick movement, Ember set all her items in her hands onto the piano and made her way to the door. She saw the left side of the door was moved a little bit as if someone was peering through. So she moved quickly to the right side of the door and kicked. A loud boom rang out as her foot connected with the hard surface. To Ai's surprise, he watched as the door snapped and fell off its hinges from the strength of her kick. He took a step to the side to avoid being hit and watched in slight shock as the pink-haired girl turned her attention to him. He wasn't sure if she was meaning to hit him or not, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know as it was even clear to him that she was very annoyed in that moment in time. 

“Hello, Ember.” Ai politely said to the girl. She glared at him but sighed when she saw it was him. Deep down inside of him, he could feel that he was a bit freaked out over her being able to destroy a door and he made sure to make a mental note to not ever do anything that might get her to use her strength on him. 

“Ai. So it was you following me all this time. Why?” Ember was slightly out of breath from her kick and just stared at the man as she spoke. 

“I was curious to how you knew that I was an A.I.” Ai simply said to the female, causing her to look at him like he was insane. However, her look changed when she began to laugh at the male. He gave her a confused look but she just shook her head. She thought he was following her because he was suspicious of her for some reason, not because of that. 

“I knew because I'm someone who has a deeper understanding of others. I can see people's auras and you don't have one. Along with the way you speak and act, I could easily tell what you were.” Ember explained as she returned to her seat within the room. Ai followed her as he listened carefully to her as he began to understand how she was able to know certain things. It wasn't as mysterious as he had originally thought. He wasn't aware that there were people out there that could do such things, but he knew Ember well enough that he knew she was telling the complete truth when she spoke to him. 

“I see. That is another new thing that I have learned about you in these past 4 days.” 

“Oh? What else have you learned about me?” Ember was curious now. She wasn't aware she did anything during those days to cause someone to learn anything new about her, but she was wrong. 

With that, Ai and Ember descended into a conversation about what Ai learned about her within the time he was stalking her. It was a lot of things that most people wouldn't even pay any mind to. It started to make her feel a bit embarrassed that he was watching her so closely that he'd notice certain things. Like certain facial expressions and what they were caused by. He would notice even how she would move her hair as she was drawing or writing so that it wouldn't get in the way. Any little quirks like when she read something and whispered it out loud to herself, he'd also noticed them. Ember had been completely embarrassed by the end of his explanation and was fighting a blush that was trying to creep up onto her face. 

“Um, wow Ai, that's really specific.” She was shocked at how much detail about herself he had noticed. She wasn't aware that anyone could notice such little things about a person, but then again, Ai wasn't a normal person and for some reason, Ember was very thankful for that. 

“Yes, I wanted to find out every detail I possibly could about you so I watched you extremely carefully.” 

“You know, from now on, if you want to know something, you can just ask me about it.” Ember informed the robot as she chuckled. She had meant that for the future, as in not that moment but to her surprise, Ai did indeed start asking her questions about herself and her life. It was clear to her that he had become interested in her for some reason. She thought it best to not ask him about that quite yet as she had a feeling that he himself wasn't sure about why he was overly curious about her. 

Eventually, it had gotten too late and the two of them had to part ways and go to their rooms to rest for the night. Ember was actually quite relieved at that, as she had spent over an hour explaining to him different parts of her life. She had grown quite tired because of it. However, they also accomplished quite a bit as well. They were finally able to match their schedules to plan their upcoming days for them to be able to work together. They also were able to discuss their duet together. So overall it was a really productive little meeting they ended up having. Along with their little meeting, they agreed to not tell anyone about who broke the door, so Ember wouldn't get in any trouble for it. Even though it was clear to Shining that it was Ember and her crazy monster strength she had sometimes that caused the destruction of the door. 

Once the two were in their rooms and lying in their beds, they reflected on the day. Ember was glad to have finally gotten a good chance to talk with Ai. She did truly like him for the being he was. It didn't matter to her how different he was or even what specific being he was. She just really liked him the way he was. She, however, wasn't sure if there was any point to her feelings though. She knew that as an artificial intelligence, he had no human emotions to return her feelings. Or so she thought. 

Ai was also reflecting on his conversation with the pink-haired female and his actions over the past few days. Throughout his time following her and learning about her, he had begun to develop a strange feeling within him. Not only was he feeling something strange, but the fact that he decided to stalk the female was strange, as Ai would never normally go to such lengths for such a reason. He wasn't sure what the feeling or overall reason was, but it was concerning to him. Thinking about the feeling was beginning to cause him to overheat, and he was very confused as to why. After all, he only overheated when he thought about love, but he was feeling something that was causing him to overheat. He knew there was a possibility that he was feeling something called “love” but it was impossible to truly feel that, as he wasn't a human. Before Ai shut down for the night, he decided to go and give his creator a visit within the next few days so he could figure out the facts behind his recent behavior. He hoped that he didn't have a virus within his system or something worse causing him to feel such a thing.


	4. Feeling Realization: Ranmaru

Serin was an early riser and was awake long before anyone, no matter when she went to bed. So this led to many days of waking up and watching the sunrise as she sat outside. That's where she was this morning as well, she was sitting outside to watch the beautiful sunrise and go over her work schedule that she knew she was going to have to change now. She planned on talking to Ranmaru later on in the day to go over both their schedules, but she wasn’t sure how to approach the man. She had a feeling that no matter what, she would be highly nervous near him. She was fine with him when others were present, but him alone, she was a little afraid. She really didn’t want to say anything stupid or act like an idiot around him. 

“I wonder what time it is,” Serin asked herself as she leaned back in her chair. She had left her phone in her room accidentally and didn't see any clocks anywhere. 

“It’s 7:48 am.” The sudden voice behind her caused her to jump and nearly fall out of her chair. She sat back up and turned around to see Ranmaru standing there looking at her. 

“Oh, thank you and good morning.” Serin hesitantly said to the man. Her eyes wandered away from him in nervousness, as this was her first time speaking to him without anyone else around. He was standing in the doorway to the patio she was sitting on. It looked like he’d been awake for awhile and just wanted to go back to sleep. “So, um, what are you doing awake at this hour? I figured you were the type of guy who’d sleep in really late.” Serin could feel her heart beating extremely fast, and she hoped with everything she had that he couldn’t hear it. 

“I had a job early this morning so I’ve been awake for hours.” Ranmaru reluctantly responded as he moved to sit down in another chair on the patio. It was at a table a few feet away from her. “Since we have to work together, I’ll tell you what my schedule is and you’ll move your plans around mine. Okay?” Serin opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of her stomach growling, and much to her dismay, Ranmaru heard. Her face turned red as he turned to look at her. She looked down at her stomach, cursing it for decided it was a good time to remind her about food. “Did you not eat or something?” He sounded irritated by her hunger. 

“Yeah, I can’t really cook for myself and so I have to wait for Arcadia or Ember to wake up. They cook food for the three of us, and the other one.” Serin was referring to Adryn when she said that. She had a clear look of disgust when she spoke of the red-haired female.

“You can’t cook for yourself?”

“No, I tend to burn things.” Serin nervously laughed and tried to ignore his glare. He seemed to be disappointed in the girl.

“Idiot.” Ranmaru stood up and walked to the door. “Come on, if we’re going to work together I don’t need to hear you complaining that you’re hungry.” Serin hesitantly nodded her head and followed him. He led her to the kitchen and began to prepare to make food for himself and the female. She shyly stood a few feet from him, wondering if she should help or not.

“Should I… um do something to help?” Ranmaru had grown annoyed with her meek attitude which didn't fit being an idol.

“It’d be great if you did something useful instead of standing there, looking like an idiot.” Ranmaru looked around for a moment and grabbed a pen and notepad before quickly scribbling down a list on and handing it to her. " Get the ingredients on this list." Serin nodded her head and set off on her mission. She wandered around the pantry looking for what she was told to find. For the most part she was able to find it all and set it on the counter next to the man, but unfortunately for her, there was one ingredient that was on the top shelf, one she could not reach. She didn’t want to bother him, so she did the one thing she knew she shouldn't do. She began to use the shelves to climb to get it. She was about to grab it when, and you probably guessed it, she slipped. 

“Shit…” Serin swore as she tried to regain her footing, however she didn’t and she fell. Instead of the ground, she landed in Ranmaru’s arms. “Thank-” She was cut off by his annoyed and clearly angry words.

“Can’t you do anything?” His harsh words flipped a switch within her. Adryn wasn’t the only one in DAWN that was hot-headed and a little violent, Serin was as well. She threw herself out of Ranmaru’s arms and landed on her feet before spinning around to glare at the man. She was a few inches shorter than him, so she was looking up at him. Instantly he could tell that Serin was not happy or nervous around him anymore as she'd been moments ago.

“You listen to me you arrogant, judgmental jackass. You will not talk to me like that. I don’t care what issues you have with people, but you will treat me with respect as I treat you with respect. I have faults, but so do you and I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate it if I talked to you like you just talked to me. So change your attitude. I’m trying to be nice here because I’m a huge fan of you, but don’t make me be a bigger bitch than you are. Cause trust me, honey, you won’t like it if I put effort into being a bitch.” Serin ranted, stalking towards him as he walked backward, slightly intimidated by the smaller female. He wasn’t sure how he felt in that moment, but he could feel something ignite within him. However, he decided to ignore the feeling and taunt the girl a little bit. 

“So, you’re a fan of me huh?” Ranmaru smirked as he looked down at the girl. She seemed confused for a moment before realization hit her and her face turned many shades of red. She turned her head away from him as she scolded herself internally for admitting that to him. Ranmaru just smirked at the now embarrassed girl and began to walk past her. He reached up and grabbed the last ingredient he needed before returning to the kitchen. “Are you just going to stand there? Didn’t you want to help?” 

“Huh?” Serin was confused, she had absolutely no idea what was going on. Still uncertain, she quickly followed after him and stood near him, waiting for a command. “Oh, um, thank you for catching me earlier.” 

“If I just let you fall I would have been yelled at by Shining for letting a girl get hurt.” 

“Well then…” Serin wasn’t sure what was up with this guy. One minute he seems nice but then the next he was a jerk again. She sighed to herself and just decided the best thing to do was just go with the flow. Ranmaru ended up telling her to do a few things, but it was more of just mixing something or moving things from place to place to get him out of his way. She wasn’t actually allowed to do any cooking or anything like that. Eventually, Serin was driven from the kitchen and told to wait outside for the food. She wasn’t happy about it, but she listened to him. She returned to her original seat and waited for the man. She didn’t have to wait long as he came to her, with a plate for her and one for himself, soon after she sat down.

“This is a one-time thing,” Ranmaru warned the girl as he handed her the plate of her food before going to sit down. Serin looked down at the food. It wasn’t what she was expecting. “They are American style pancakes,” Ranmaru informed the girl before she could ask. She thanked the silver-haired male before digging in. She cut a piece with her fork and ate it.

“Oh wow, this is amazing. Kurosaki, I didn’t realize you were such a good cook.” Ranmaru looked away from the girl as she complimented him. “I mean seriously, I would never have thought you could cook like this. It’s better than Ember’s pancakes.” She continued eating in silence as Ranmaru started eating. The two didn’t say another word until they were both done. “Thank you Kurosaki, I really appreciate this.”

“Stop calling me that,” Ranmaru mumbled to the girl. “It’s annoying being called by my last name.”

“So I can call you Ranmaru?” Serin practically lit up with joy as a bright smile appeared on her face. The person she idolized was giving her permission to use his first name. It was amazing to her and she could feel her heart flutter at the thought of it. 

“Yeah.” He agreed, watching how happy the girl was now. He again felt that feeling that he'd chosen to ignore earlier. 

“Thank you, Kuro… I mean Ranmaru.” Serin smiled at him happily, practically bouncing in her seat from the joy she now felt. Ranmaru had heard many people call him by his first name, but for some reason, he could feel his heart skip when she spoke his name. It began to worry him as he had felt this feeling before, and it never ended well. Still, he chose to shove the feeling to the back of his mind in favor of turning their conversation in a more professional direction.

"Now that you've eaten, do you have your schedule with you?"

"Yep, right here it is." Serin held it up to show her dark red and black planner. There were little puffy kitten stickers on it, which should embarrass an adult, but she was proud of them. 

"Give it to me." Serin was annoyed with the demand but handed it over anyway. Ranmaru glared at the stickers. "What are you, 12?"

"Bitch I might be." Serin instantly snapped, before realizing her words. "Sorry, it's become a habit to say that." Ranmaru surprisingly chuckled at the female's words and began going through her plans. He made comments every now and then about what she'd need to change or rearrange. Serin nodded her head at some, but at other's, she argued which resulted in him having to change his plans. The two continued to discuss their schedules until they realized that other people had begun to wake up. "If it's alright with you, Ranmaru, do you think we can finish this up later? There are some cats that I feed and it's about time to give them their lunch." 

"There are stray cats around here?" Ranmaru wasn't shocked as he knew there were a few, but the way Serin was talking, it seemed she knew of a few more than he did.

"Do you want to join me? I could use help in carrying their food." Serin saw the hesitancy in his eyes to agree but eventually, he did. The two went to Serin's room, which is where she kept the food for the cats. He carried the bags as she led him to where the cats were. There were quite a few, but not more than 10. They were mostly adult cats but there was a mom cat who had a few kittens. They all seemed to be highly attracted to Ranmaru even without the bags of food in his arms. He also seemed to enjoy them as he gave each cat love as he fed them. It was a sweet thing to see, but of course, Ranmaru had to ruin it.

"If you tell anyone about this..."

"Yeah, I get it. I won't say anything." Serin smiled at him as he glared at her. She felt happy to see a side of him that he didn't show often. 

Once the cats were fed, the two returned to the dorms. They each had their own lives to get back to and they agreed to continue their talk about their work plans later on. However, even though both of them were no longer near each other, their minds were thinking of the other. Serin felt special to get to see a different Ranmaru than most people knew, and Ranmaru was conflicted over his thoughts of her. He knew he'd began to feel something for the girl and his first reaction is to ignore it, but a voice in the back of his mind told him not to. Surprising himself, Ranmaru decided to not push this feeling away and to let it take him where it was going to go. He had his guard up, but he didn't get a bad feeling from Serin yet, so he'd allow the feeling for now.


	5. Feeling Realization: Camus

Arcadia was sleeping peacefully, was being the keyword. Loud pounding knocks on her door woke her at exactly 8:00 am. They startled her, nearly causing her to fall out of her bed. It instantly infuriated her and caused her to throw herself out of her warm and comfortable bed. She stomped to the door, as the pounding knocks continued, and threw open the door. She caught the evil hand that was doing the knocking so it didn't hit her face and instantly became even more annoyed when she saw who was the knocker.

"Do not touch me!" Camus tore his hand away from hers and glowered down at her. Arcadia just glared back up at him, possibly even more annoyed then him.

"Do not wake me up at 8 in the damn morning. I was having a great dream." Arcadia retorted before slowly calming down. She took a deep breath and then continued talking. "What is it you need Camus? Was there any particular reason for waking me up?" The shift in Arcadia's mood gave Camus an unsettled feeling, however, he chose to ignore it.

"We have work to do. From today on you will be my assistant. Get dressed in proper clothes and don't keep me waiting." Arcadia, instead of following his command, began to laugh hard. She needed to hold onto the door frame to remain standing as she nearly fell over laughing at the man's words. "What is your problem woman? Is there an issue with you becoming my assistant?"

"Oh, there's a problem alright, for you, because that's not happening," Arcadia informed the male as she instantly stopped laughing at his words.

"What do you mean?" Camus was furious over the woman's instant rejection of his demand.

"We're supposed to be working together. You know, to show we can get along so we can go back to working with our actual groups." Arcadia began to take a step back from the man as she grabbed onto her door. "So, we will work together. I'll get ready and you can wait right there." With that, the usually calm and respectful girl slammed the door in his face.

"How dare this woman..." Camus trailed off in this seething to swing around from the door and walk to the windows. He glared out of the windows at the beautiful spring landscape as he calmed down. Well, it was beautiful, but it just infuriated the icy man even further, as he wasn't completely fond of spring.

Inside her room, Arcadia got changed even though she only wanted to go back to sleep. She didn't get enough rest to be able to handle Camus, but she knew she needed to be professional or at least try to. 

Arcadia paused in her changing to recall how Camus looked a few moments ago. She internally fangirled over how attractive he looked in his white suit. He might be an asshole, but he's a very attractive asshole. The female sighed to herself and finished getting ready. Once she was dressed she left her room slowly. She wondered if Camus had waited for her, and got her answer when the door was fully opened. He was standing at the window, still looking outside. He clearly didn't realize that she'd opened her door, so she quietly approached him and stood at his side to look out the window as well.

“It's beautiful out there, isn't it?” Arcadia inquired quietly to the beautiful man. He didn't show any signs of shock at her sudden appearance, which disappointed the girl a little bit. She wanted to see him show a face other than his usual cold mask or his fake gentleman mask.

“Yes, it is, however, I prefer summer. It's better weather to take long walks with Alexander.” Camus simply responded, not even looking at the girl at all. She raised an eyebrow and he clarified what he meant. "Alexander is my dog."

“You have a dog?” Arcadia lit up and turned to him happily. “I love animals. What kind of dog is it? Do you have any pictures?” Her eagerness threw Camus off guard, as she didn't seem like the type to freak out over something like that. Camus sighed to himself and pulled out his phone. He went to his camera's gallery and proceeded to show the happy female pictures of his dog.

“His name is Alexander and he is a Borzoi.” 

“He's such a beautiful dog.” Arcadia was in awe of his canine. He looked so regal and it was clear that Camus and his dog had a lot in common.

“If you wish, after we go over our schedules and get our plans laid out, I can show him to you in person.” Camus didn't expect the huge smile to appear on the female's face nor the happy gasp that came from her. 

“Seriously?”

“I suppose if you aren't annoying.” Arcadia nodded her head, so Camus continued talking. “Very well, we will go have breakfast and discuss our plans.” With that, the two walked off to one of the couches that mostly everyone goes to hang out at. Camus had his student, Cecil Aijima, bring him tea and snacks.It looked like the boy didn't want to be there, but it was clear that he had no choice. 

“Um, Camus, do you think you have enough sugar in your tea yet?” Arcadia questioned horrified as the man put cube after cube of sugar in the tea. “It's more sugar than tea now.” He glared at the woman but stopped adding sugar to just stir it around. 

“I enjoy sweet things.” 

“I see...” Arcadia looked at the tea in front of her and tasted it. It wasn't sweet enough for her, so she added a bit of sugar to it before tasting it again. She deemed it worthy to drink, so she began to happily sip at it. Camus nibbled on some sweets which seemed to make him happy. Arcadia couldn't help but stare at the man and at first, he didn't realize she was staring until he noticed it out of the corner of his eyes. Her gaze was locked on him and a pleasant expression was on her face. 

“What makes you think you can stare at me?” Camus suddenly demanded, shocking the white-haired girl. She didn't realize he had seen her as he was still looking down at his tea and sweets. However, her shock turned to annoyance since he just broke the beauty with his arrogant words. 

“You know, it's a real shame that such a beautiful being has to have such a shit personality.” Arcadia took another sip of her tea, ignoring the nearly audible sound of snapping as Camus' head turned instantly to glare at her. The small chuckling from Cecil didn't help Camus' anger at all either. The boy was a safe distance away and was hiding so the two didn't realize he was still there until his chuckling.

“How dare you woman, do you think you can speak to me in such a way?” He was seething and looked extremely furious. 

“Actually I do think I can. You aren't my master and you sure as hell aren't my friend. If you treat me with absolutely no respect, then you get none from me.” Arcadia simply informed the man. Her voice held a venomous tone to it. “I'm not some little weak-willed woman like Nanami is, therefore I won't put up with any of your attitude towards other people.” Her sudden outburst of rudeness honestly made Camus angry, but also confused. She was kind one second and eager to meet his dog, but then the next she was going off on him. Even the look on her eyes changed along with her personality. 

“You have a split personality, am I correct?” Camus noted once he'd calmed down his initial anger towards the woman. “I heard about it from Kotobuki, but I didn't believe him. I needed more information to come to a decisive conclusion about your personality, or personalities I should say.”

“Are you saying you pissed me off on purpose?” 

“Such a vulgar way to put it, but yes.”

“Listen here you son of a...” Camus raised his hand to stop her, which actually made her reach out and smack his hand away.That earned her a glare from the regal man, but she ignored it. 

“Do you wish to see Alexander now?” That single sentence changed the whole subject and shut the angry woman up. Her anger was replaced by a huge smile on her face. 

“Yes, where is he?” 

“Come with me.” Camus stood up and motioned for the girl to follow him, which of course she did. He led her to his car where his driver was waiting. He informed her that they were going to his apartment to get his dog and go for a walk. He had originally just wanted to have the person who was taking care of his dog to just bring him back to the dorms for the girl to see. However, he'd upset the girl and, not that he'd admit it, he wanted to make it up to her. 

Once they were dropped off in front of the building where his apartment was, Camus led Arcadia to his door. It was at the top and was a penthouse that was clearly elegant and beautiful. It annoyed the girl that he lived somewhere so nice, but let it go when his dog approached them. He seemed annoyed to see Arcadia with his master and was cold to her for a while. It took a bit to get Alexander to warm up to the girl, and she was thrilled over it. Once the dog accepted being around the white-haired girl, Camus hooked him to his leash and the group took off. 

Camus led them to a local park and spent over a half hour wandering around in almost silence. Once they reached a little meadow, Camus decided to sit on a bench to rest as Alexander wandered around in the meadow by himself. It was clear that the two had been there a few times before. Arcadia, feeling tired from the long walk, sat down next to the man and turned to face him.

“Thank you for this, Camus. I don't really get out much since I really don't like people or anything, so this has been a really nice time.” Arcadia informed the man with a soft smile on her face. 

“If you don't like people, why are you an idol?” 

“My parents sent me here because I was too quiet. I like singing enough that I'm able to overcome my shyness for a little while, but... other than that...” Arcadia trailed off and looked over to where the dog was sniffing flowers and bugs. Camus became interested in her explanation and turned to look at her. “I didn't care about all of this at first, but then I saw someone's performance and was captivated by them. So I guess that's why I'm still here being an idol.”

“I see, who was so captivating?” Camus knew full well who she was talking about. She was honest to a fault and had already told a few people of STARISH at one point and she knew someone had told him. 

“Don't be smug you jackass.” Arcadia glared at the now smirking man. She huffed and got up to go over to his dog, but was stopped by Camus' voice.

“Wait.” She turned to look at him annoyed. “You dislike who I am, correct?”

“Your personality is vile.”

“Then why not try to get to know me, the version of me under all of that?” His suggestion made Arcadia frown, but she sat down anyway. 

“I thought you had no interest in getting friendly with people outside of work.”

“I also have no interest in dealing with your personality changes, so if you and I get along better, I can avoid that.”

“Well then, what do you like to do?” Arcadia asked after a moment of thinking.

“I enjoy riding my horse, fencing and ice skating.” 

“Oh really? That's interesting. I don't really have any experience with horses or fencing, but I have skated... kinda. Are you any good at ice skating? I'm terrible and can't even stand up on skates, to be honest.” 

“I am quite good at skating. I could give you some tutoring on ice skating someday.” His response made Arcadia laugh and nod her head. 

“That'd be nice.” Camus was going to respond to her, however, Alexander approached them, seemingly wanting to go home now. The two agreed that they needed to go back to Camus' penthouse to drop off Alexander and then go back to the dorms to finally go through their schedules. Once that was done, they enjoyed tea and some sweets together before parting ways and going about the rest of their day. 

Arcadia was happy she finally got to see who Camus was, even past the cold nature he had in his actual personality. She knew that she would be able to look past his arrogant tendencies and possibly be his friend. It made her extremely happy to think that she was going to be working closely with her crush, but she was worried about how he felt about her. 

However, her worries were pointless, as Camus was beginning to realize something. He had never been spoken to in the ways that Arcadia spoke to him. Her bravery in her speech to him had caused something to change in his feelings for her. At first, he didn't care about her existence at all, but his feelings changed the first time she insulted him. He was shocked at her informal and crude way of speaking, however, it intrigued him. 

He didn't know what the feeling was, but from what he read in magazines, it was the feeling of attraction. Camus knew he was starting to have an attraction to the woman, which concerned him, but also made him look forward to seeing her again to see what would come of it. He knew she had a crush on him, so he was confident that if he found out he truly felt something for her, she wouldn't reject him. Not that he thought any woman would reject him in the first place.


	6. Getting Closer: Reiji

“Hey Adryn, wanna go on a road trip?” It was that simple question that led them to where they were now. Reiji had been told by Ringo that as a reward for getting along, they were to go off on a vacation to the beach. However there was a catch, they had to stop in the towns they went through and do a small promotional concert of their new songs and answer some fan questions. Shining already laid out the plans and they were already scheduled for each small performance. Of course, knowing Adryn would flat out refuse to go since she hated being in front of people live, they had Reiji go to her and suggest it, using her own weakness for him against her. 

It worked and Adryn agreed as long as she could drive his convertible when he got tired. He was fine with it, so the two packed their clothes and other necessities, along with their instruments and left. Everything had been going fine until Reiji's car ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. They were in the more country part, only a few cities away from the beach. Shining had purposely sent them to places that would most likely not know them well to spread their music further. Reiji had been too excited and took a wrong turn, leading them away from the road that had a gas station on it. He was completely sure that there would be one soon, but Adryn, who had the map, told him he was wrong, but being a male, he refused to believe her. However, as they sat in his car on the side of the road, Adryn badly wanted to glare at the man and tell him “I told you so” but she adored the man and couldn't bring herself to say it.

“So... Should we start walking?” Reiji chuckled, humorlessly turning to look at the female in the passenger seat. Adryn just sighed at him and shook her head.

“There's no point, there isn't anything for miles, and it's about to get dark. I don't think it's safe to go anywhere right now.” Adryn pulled out her phone and texted Ember explaining to her what happened and where they were. 

“What are you doing?”

“I'm having Ember tell Shining to send someone to bring us gas,” Adryn mumbled as she read the response from Ember. “It won't be until morning though, so we're going to have to stay here all night.” Reiji nodded his head and put the top back up on the car. He also grabbed the blanket and pillows that Adryn had packed for an emergency just like this. 

“I'm sorry I took a wrong turn and got us stranded out here.” Reiji shyly muttered to the redhead as Adryn got out of the car. She helped him with the blanket and pillows and just smiled at him. 

“Next time I tell you to turn left, turn left.” She responded chuckling at the faint blush now on Reiji's embarrassed face. He nodded his head and the two climbed into the backseat for more comfort. The two moved their front seats up more to have even more room and then got under the blanket. They were each leaning against the side of the car, facing each other. They sat there in silence, feeling tired from their long day. They had performed two small concerts in one day and were feeling the effects from all of the craziness. Even though they were tired, they couldn't really fall asleep; they were too caught up in thinking. 

Over the week of them traveling and performing together, Reiji realized that Adryn really was a good person. He found out that while she is quick to anger and often gets too worked up over things, she cares deeply for those she considers friends. He found out that Adryn grew up a very shy and scared girl that was bullied by many people in her school and then was by those she called friends. He found out the darkness that consumed her at one point and how her depression never fully went away, causing her to be affected still. 

He was shocked at how honest she was with him, but also felt bad, as he didn't tell her much back. He told her about his family life and how he grew up without a father, but he didn't tell her the worst thing that ever happened to him. He also felt the way she did. He had fallen into darkness once his best friend disappeared and he still felt the guilt over not answering his call that day. He wanted to be as open as Adryn was with him, but he was unsure about it. However unsure he was though, he knew feelings for her had been developing but nothing would come of them as long as he kept things to himself and didn't open up to her. 

“Adryn, there's something I have told very few people before, but I want to tell you.” Reiji started hesitantly as he looked up at the girl. She was now looking at him with confused eyes. 

“What is it? You know if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to.” She had seen the nervous look in his eyes and didn't want him to say anything that would make him uncomfortable. 

“I had a best friend and you remind me of him a little. Just like you, he had issues with being in front of people, but for him, it was because it was overwhelming for him. He had confided in me that he didn't want to be an idol anymore, but I thought it was a passing feeling and that he would feel better about it sooner or later. I never thought that he felt terrible enough to quit or anything like that, so what happened to him really hurt and shocked me, and everyone else who knew him.” Reiji paused to look out of the back window of the car and to the stars that were beginning to appear in the sky. “He never did feel better though and he disappeared shortly after he told me how he felt. He tried to call me that day but I missed his call. If I had answered it, maybe I could have stopped him from disappearing.” It was clear to the girl that Reiji was feeling extremely guilty over that, and it pained her to see him look so upset. 

“I understand how you feel Reiji. There was someone that I was dating for many years of my life. She was a childhood friend of Ember and I named Nova. A year ago she decided that she wasn't needed in our lives anymore and jumped off a bridge into a river. I was there with her and I couldn't save her. If I had just been closer to where she was standing, I could have stopped her. I've torn myself up many times because of it.” Reiji moved closer to the girl so he could comfort her. No words could be said to make the feelings of pain go away, so neither tried to say anything more. The two were now slightly snuggled against each other peacefully in silence. Since the pair had exhausted all of their energy with their conversation, they quickly slipped into sleep. 

The pair were awakened by the sun shining into their eyes. Not only were they shocked awake, they were shocked to see how they ended up sleeping at night. During their time asleep, Adryn laid down fully in the backseat, with one leg ending up in the front seat area, and Reiji had laid on top of her laying his head on her chest. They were completely snuggled together as if they were glued to each other. 

“Um...” Neither of them were able to form words at their position and quickly moved away from the other. Adryn's face turned a bright shade of red and Reiji chuckled nervously with his face slightly pink. “Well, at least we slept well?” He offered to lighten up the situation. His attempt worked as the girl began to laugh and nod her head. The two got out of the car and put away the pillows and blanket before fixing their front seats and climbing back into the car. It was early in the morning and their rescuers were supposed to be there any minute now, hopefully.

“Did we pack any snacks? I'm kind of hungry.” Adryn turned hopefully to Reiji, however, he just frowned.

“That might have been the one thing we didn't pack.” He admitted sadly, also feeling hungry. To their relief, they didn't have to wait for very much longer, only about an hour. The man Shining had sent out to bring them gas arrived, filled Reiji's car with enough gas to get to the next city, and then left. The two were so thankful to the man, but he just seemed uninterested in their thanks.

“Let's get to the next city, fill up the car the rest of the way and then get some food.” Reiji nodded in agreement and followed the female's orders. 

Once the car was filled up, Reiji took Adryn to a restaurant he had heard was really good (He asked Tokiya if he knew any good restaurants to take Adryn to in the city they were going to end up in. He had called him at a rest stop when Adryn had to go to the bathroom.). They were able to get a comfortable booth to eat at away from the eyes of any fans or nosy people, which Adryn was thankful for.

“Adryn, can I ask you something?” Reiji suddenly asked as the female was taking a bite out of the food she had. She munched on it for a moment before swallowing so she could speak.

“Um, sure? What do you want to ask me?” She felt a little nervous at his words. She wasn't sure what he was going to ask and she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know. Her mind usually went to the worst case scenario. 

“You have feelings for me, right? I know you are a fan of QUARTET NIGHT, but you were a fan of me specifically before, right?” 

“Um...” Adryn blushed and looked away from him. “I guess so, yeah.”

“Be my girlfriend then.”

“What?” She looked at Reiji, searching his face for any sign of a lie or a joke, but found none.

“Feelings for you have been growing for a while now, and I want you to be my girlfriend. I want to see where we could go together.” Reiji was looking at the girl with seriousness in his eyes. It was shocking to see, but it captivated the girl. 

“I'd really like that.” Adryn smiled at Reiji, a truly happy smile. He smiled back and tried to contain his happiness that he now felt. Unfortunately, his phone going off broke their moment. He reluctantly answered it and then moments later stood up and hung up the phone.

“They want us to do a pre-performance interview so we have to get going now.” Reiji held out his hand for Adryn to take. “Let's go. Shall we, my darling?” Adryn's face turned bright red, but she nodded her head and put her hand in his. The two paid and left the restaurant in a hurry to get to their job. Neither expected their trip to turn out like this, but they weren't going to be complaining either.


	7. Getting Closer: Ai

It took a few days before Ai could go over to his creator's home. He lived close by, but not close enough that Ai could easily go there. He had to wait until he had a day with a few free hours, however, he had to cancel his afternoon with Ember, which to his confusion, made him feel something bad within him. He deduced that he felt guilty for canceling his plans with the girl, but she didn't seem too upset, so he figured that it was fine. He also felt slightly bad that he lied to her about his reasons for why he had to cancel. He told her that he needed to do some extra work for Shining instead of telling her he was going to meet with his creator. 

“So Ai, what brings you here today?” Hakase, Ai's creator questioned once the robot showed up on his doorstep. He invited his creation in and sat down with him in his office. 

“I believe I have a virus or possibly a glitch.” The cyan-haired male responded simply. 

“Why do you think that? Did any scans of yourself show anything wrong?”

“No, however...” Ai then explained the situation to him stalking his friend and how he began to feel something towards her that he could not explain. After finishing his story, Hakase began to chuckle, which confused the robot even more than he already was. “I do not understand what is so funny about what I told you.”

“I know what your problem is Ai, and I can fix it easily.” The doctor began to work on Ai and informed him that he would be adding a new chip to him. “This will help you produce and feel the emotions you have begun to feel. Ai, you are falling for that female you talked about, Ember correct? This will help you further your feelings towards her.”

“I believe I understand. Thank you.” 

“Once I'm done here, go and tell Ember your feelings and begin dating her. That's the next step after developing feelings for a woman.”

“I have done research on dating, therefore I am already aware.”

“Alright Ai, well, I wish you good luck.” Once his creator was finished with his updates, Ai left and headed off to find Ember. He wanted to explain the situation to her right away.

It took him a little while to find her since he didn't ask her where she would be once he told her they couldn't hang out, but he figured with such a beautiful day, she'd be outside somewhere. He was right, of course, and Ember was outside near the lake painting the scene in front of her. At that moment, Ai was frozen. The sun was shining down illuminating her pastel pink hair and causing her to look as if she was glowing. Ai was stunned at how beautiful she was and was also stunned at how he was feeling. He never felt like that towards anyone or anything before, and he could feel, what he assumes is happiness towards his own feelings. All of the emotions he felt at that moment caused him to want to tell Ember the whole situation even more than before.

"Ember," Ai began, slightly startling the female. She turned to him and smiled at him. 

"Hey Ai, I didn't think I'd see you today. How'd your extra work go?" Ember gently set down her painting supplies and wiped any excess paint onto the already paint covered pants she wore. Her shirt also had various patches of paint from past works she'd done. Ai also noted that along with the different clothing, she wore none of her jewelry that she very literally always wore. 

"Actually, I did not tell you the truth earlier. I had no extra work to do. I visited my creator to get more data on myself."

"What do you mean by that?" 

"I will tell you, however first, you said I may ask you something if I wanted to know it, instead of stalking you again, right?”

“Of course Ai, you can ask me anything.” 

“Your feelings towards me, they are...” Ai paused to think of the word he was trying to say. “Are they romantic feelings for me?” 

Ember's reaction was not exactly what Ai expected from the girl. Her face slowly flushed red and she became a bit standoffish. It worried the male a little as Ember looked towards the ground and seemed suddenly very nervous. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before looking off at the lake in front of them. She was going to answer, however, Ai had found out enough from her reaction and began to speak again.

“I was stalking you, as you already are aware. Of course, that is not my usual behavior, therefore I thought I may have a virus or a glitch in my system. I went to my creator and he informed me that my system had no imperfections, however, I was beginning to change. Feeling were developing for you and so he assisted with the process and installed a new informational chip within me to further my feelings for you.”

“So you stalked me because you had a crush on me and now you have begun to have even deeper feelings for me than that?”

“Correct. That would mean that your fears were incorrect, as your romantic feelings for me are requited.” 

“So you were able to figure out how I feel about you?”

“Yes, your reaction to my question just moments ago gave me plenty of information to come to that understanding.”

“I see, so... what happens now Ai?” Ember was still nervous and blushing slightly. She hadn't been confronted like this before and her feelings for Ai were significantly deeper than anything she had ever felt for someone before. She didn't want them to just stay friends since it was now clear the robot shared her romantic feelings, but she was worried about how things would go since she could only assume that he'd never been in a relationship before. 

“My data shows that the next step is to begin a relationship. However, I have never been in one before so you will have to assist me along the way.” To this, Ember began to laugh which confused Ai. “What is it?”

“Ai, I've never been in a relationship either, so this is something we're going to have to figure out together.” Ai nodded his head and watched as the girl turned to look at her painting. 

“Finish your painting. I'm going to go and talk to Kotobuki about how a relationship is supposed to go.” With that, Ai left the girl to do her painting. 

The next few weeks were complicated but amazing for the new couple. They learned a lot more about each other and grew quite close. The two found out that they were very compatible, however, both of them had no relationship experience so things were a little strange. The advice they got from their friends didn't really help much and just resulted in even more confusion as none of them could agree on how a relationship should go. However, Ai and Ember did figure out things on their own, as in their decision that there would be no sexual activities during their time as just dating. It was something unlike most of their friends who already were participating in sexual activities. 

Since they were getting advice from their friends, that also opened them up to many questions from them as well. Mostly they were harmless questions that were simple to answer, but others were deep and involved a lot of thinking to describe (For example, why Ember had feelings for Ai in the first place). All 8 of them had found out from Ai that he wasn't a human, which caused different reactions. The other members of QUARTET NIGHT weren't surprised that he was a robot so they were fine with it and accepted it quickly. However, the other 3 members of DAWN gave some issues. Serin was freaked out but came to grips with it once he convinced her he wasn't evil. Arcadia found it to be amazing and wanted to know everything about him, which honestly frightened the robotic man as the look Arcadia gave him was similar to a starved beast. He thought she was going to try to take him apart, but she was quickly calmed down by Camus. 

However, the biggest issue lied with Adryn. When the words “I am an artificial intelligence, not human” came out of Ai's mouth, Adryn very literally jumped out of a window. Thankfully they were only on the second floor and she wasn't hurt, but she refused to be anywhere near Ai until the day they all met in the cafeteria to have a questioning meeting for the couple. Getting her there was difficult and it took Reiji and Ember to convince her, but then drag her and hold her there to ensure she didn't run away. That was how they all found out that Adryn was petrified of robots.

“So disturbingly strange pink-haired female...” Camus began as the 8 of them were all sitting around in the cafeteria for dinner, once they were all settled in. They all had been asking random questions and it was finally Camus' turn to ask something. Arcadia hoped that he wouldn't ask anything rude so they were trying to stop him from asking anything until later into the meeting, but everyone knew what was coming as soon as he opened his mouth to speak. 

“What is it stuck-up-iceman?” Ember retorted as she smiled at the man, pretty much unfazed by his rude beginning. She lived by the saying “I'll respect you if you respect me” so she was rude towards him as long as he was rude to her. 

“If Mikaze now has something within him to produce feelings for him, how can you know for sure that he actually loves you and isn't now just programmed to love you? Also, what if he has no feelings at all and because of the item within him, he's being forced to care for you. It's almost like he could be your personal boyfriend, made specifically for you.”

“Are you trying to say that the love Ai and my sister share is fake?” Adryn instantly spoke up, defending the lovers. She had to admit to herself though, she was thinking that way too but wouldn't dare mention it to her sister. However, just the thought of someone else questioning it made her angry. Reiji had to hold her back as Camus glared at her, causing the red-haired female to become infuriated. 

“I'm saying that isn't it a possibility?”

“I am a big believer in true love, and I know that what Ai and I have is that. No matter what you think Camus. However, I appreciate the worry.” Ember simply responded, not even affected by his question. Ai, though, frowned and began to think about what the icy man questioned. 

“I wasn't worried!” He instantly glared at Arcadia as she began to chuckle at his possible lie. “Silence woman!” At the two beginning to bicker, everyone quickly fled out of the room. Since it was now a bit later than they were all expecting, the pairs split up and headed to their own rooms, well everyone but Ai and Ember. The two of them walked off together towards the female dorms but stopped at the staircase. 

“Ai, what's the matter?” Ember could see that something was bothering her boyfriend and it was concerning to her. She didn't like the thought that he was upset or was feeling anything negative. 

“I was thinking about what Camus said. Do you think he could be correct at all?” Ai looked out the window the two were near and stared out at the scenery. “It isn't fair to you. My feelings could possibly be nothing more than something forced and fake. When I think that my feelings for you could be made up or coerced, it causes a painful feeling in my chest.”

“Ai, I believe that you do truly care for me and you know I truly care for you. That's all that matters. True love is real, and I believe that's what we have.”

“Is that what you truly believe, or are you feeling denial about the possibilities?” Ai looked at Ember with a sad look on his face.

“Listen, it's been a long day and we're both tired, so let's just go to bed and talk about this in the morning.” Ember began to walk down the hall towards her room. “Goodnight Ai.” With that, the girl closed the door and got ready for bed. It wasn't that she didn't want to deal with it or was in denial. She knew that Ai's feelings could be fake, but she also knew that she believes that true love can trump anything. 

The next day, the members of DAWN and QUARTET NIGHT were called to the cafeteria at 10 in the morning. Most of the two groups had been awake for hours already but a few were still wearing pajamas and by a few that means Adryn and Serin. Once everyone was in the room Hyuga walked in looking extremely annoyed. 

“Alright listen up everyone. Shining has been hearing a lot of rumors and talks about the relationship between these two.” He motioned at Ember and Ai, drawing everyone attention to the couple. Ai and Ember were sitting next to each other and just looked at one another, confused. “Shining has sent me to inform you all that Ai's creator lied. He never put any chip within him and any feelings he is feeling now is because they are being created by him. He has been developing human emotions for a little while now. So his “love” with Ember, is true.” Once he said his explanation, he left the room to do whatever things he had to do. 

The group talked to one another for a few moments before attention was again turned to the couple. Ember was smirking and Ai looked a little shocked. 

“See Ai, I told you that true love existed.” Ember smiled at her boyfriend, and after a few moments of shock and confusion, he returned her smile. The couple paid no mind to the horrified looks of their friends at the robot smiling a true smile for the first time in front of them all.


	8. Getting Closer: Ranmaru

It was a few weeks after Ranmaru and Serin began working together. Overall, the two got along well with a few issues. They seemed to have similar tastes in music so Ranmaru was alright with her writing a song with him. It also helped that Serin was a fan of him, and he was aware of it, so he used that to his advantage as well. However, Serin still put him in his place if he decided to be too rude towards her which gained her more of his respect.

 

They had a meeting every Friday to go over their schedules for the next week and to voice any complaints they had with each other so that they didn't let them affect their work together. Usually, Serin had to wait for Ranmaru to arrive since he didn't really show any interest in showing up when he didn't actually have to. However, this time, Ranmaru was at the meeting place and Serin was late. It was so unusual that Ranmaru decided to call the girl but only got her voicemail instead. As the minutes passed, he grew impatient and irritable so he got up from his comfortable seat and headed out to search for the girl.

 

It didn't take long for him to hear footsteps quickly approaching him. He knew someone was coming towards him, however, he didn't expect to turn the corner and walk right into someone. The person he walked into hit him hard enough to send them both to the floor. They'd had fallen over on top of him and was practically straddling his waist. Ranmaru was, of course, furious instantly but his anger faded when he saw it was Serin with a panicked look on her face.

 

“Ran-Ran! Weneedtogo save the kitties! There's a badstormcoming and I'm worried they don'thaveenough shelter to protect them!” Serin sounded out of breath and was slurring a few of her words together since she was in a rush to speak it all at once.

 

“What did you say? Try that again but slower.” Ranmaru was still annoyed that he was knocked over, but he was even more annoyed at how she referred to him. He didn't even like Reiji calling him that, so it annoyed him to have someone like her begin to call him that. As she calmed down for a moment, the two got to their feet. He had to help her though because she was so worn out from what he assumed was a lot of running to get to him.

 

“There's a bad storm coming and the cats outside might not have enough shelter to stay safe during it. I need your help to save them.” Serin more calmly informed the silver-haired male. At first, he wanted to decline, but he knew he would end up helping regardless because of his love for cats and the feelings he felt for the girl, but was still not ready to fully pay attention to.

 

“Fine, I'll help.” With that, Serin grabbed Ranmaru's right hand and began to pull him towards the doors that led to where the cats were located. To his surprise, he wasn't annoyed at the female touching him without his permission and allowed her to pull him along. The cats were a little ways away from the building but it was close enough that they didn't have to go too far. Once they got to the doors, they could see the wind blowing and rain falling in sheets. Thunder boomed above them and lightning crackled down, illuminating the darkening sky every so often. The storm had already started and it caused Serin's panic to come back. However, before she could even say anything, Ranmaru pulled her outside. “Let's go!”

 

Ranmaru and Serin could hardly see through the rain that was coming down. It was even slightly painful to them with the wind blowing the rain even harder. The ground was muddy and every few steps it tried to suck Serin's feet further down than before. It took constant effort from Ranmaru to continuously pull her along with him. What would have been a few minute trip turned into about 10 minutes because of the weather. Once they got to where the cats were located, a few of the adult cats instantly came to them meowing and whining. The two could see that the cats were scared and were glad that they'd come to their rescue.

 

Ranmaru was able to carry two cats at a time and Serin was able to carry one since she needed a free hand to keep a hold of Ranmaru and then open the doors for them. The cats didn't want to walk through the mud but were also not able to because of how bad it had gotten. It took them 3 trips back and forth to collect all of the cats that were there, but once they finished, they realized that the mother cat and her kittens weren't among those they'd saved so far.

 

“Ran-Ran we have to go back out there and look for them!” Serin was shivering and was showing signs that she was freezing and already catching a cold. It made worry blossom inside of the silver-haired male for the first time in a while.

 

“You stay here and keep them company. Dry them and yourself with towels while I go look for the rest.” Ranmaru was also feeling cold and was definitely catching a cold, but he knew he was the best choice to go and look. Serin tried to argue, but he shoved her into the room with all of the cats and then headed outside. It was now darker and the weather was worse than it was in the beginning, but he kept moving forward. He knew that the mother would have taken the kittens to a safer place to sleep away from any other cats that would hurt them. He just wasn't sure where they would be. He took a wild guess and began to search the tree trunks to see if there were any holes where a cat could be in and after a few trees he saw her.

 

The mother cat was mostly white so when Ranmaru spotted something white and dirty, he knew it was her. She was shivering and soaking wet but wasn't alone. There were 3 kittens under her sleeping as if they were unaware of the storm that was around them. Thankfully, Ranmaru had thought ahead and grabbed a towel before setting out on this trip so he reached out to wrap the mom and her kittens in the towel. The mother was hesitant at first but knew he only wanted to help so she allowed him to take her children, but refused to let him take her. He was ready to head back and just return to the mother after, but he realized that there were only 3 kittens there when there should have been 5 in total.

 

The mother cat chose that moment to run off, causing Ranmaru to follow her. She led him to one of the many open fields close by and went to a rock. Next to the rock were the last 2 kittens, crying and shivering, but alive. The rock had shielded them from most of the rain so they were only a little damp. Instantly, the man picked up the kittens and wrapped them in the blanket. He began to move quickly back to the door he'd come from to bring Serin the kittens. He checked behind him and to his relief and surprise, the mother cat was following him. She didn't seem bothered at all by the mud like the others were and ran with him the whole way back to safety.

 

“You found them!” Serin happily cried out when Ranmaru entered the room with the kittens and mother cat. She brought him another towel and began to carefully dry off the kittens as he took care of the mother cat. Once they were dry, the mother cat cuddled up with her children and finally seemed to calm down. “Thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you.”

 

“It's fi-” Ranmaru was cut off by sneezing. Thankfully for the girl in front of him, he sneezed into his arm.

 

“Are you alright?” Serin wasn't sure what to do, so she reached out and put a towel over his soaking hair. However, she stopped to just stare at the man. His spiked hair was laying down and he looked incredibly attractive. Her heart began to beat faster as she began to become flustered over how the man was looking. Ranmaru noticed and opened his mouth to question it, but she panicked and threw the towel at his face.

 

“Thanks, and I'm fine.” He didn't seem too sure of it, but he didn't want to deal with a cold at the moment so he'd remain in denial until the morning and began to dry himself off.

 

However, when morning came, Ranmaru was still refusing to acknowledge that he was sick despite sneezing and having a slightly runny nose. He masked his sickly feeling with anger towards Shining. He and Serin had gone to Shining's office to tell him to make a shelter for the strays running around, but he refused to.

 

“I didn't want to have to do this.” With a few clicks of his phone, he sent out a text. The three of them waited for a few moments before the door opened to reveal Reiji holding a tray of food. He had called in Reiji to bribe Shining with food and to Serin's surprise, it actually worked. Of course, Ranmaru didn't thank Reiji or anything, so the female had to for him but was quickly pulled away by the silver-haired male. He dragged her away from the friendly man before he could start a never-ending conversation with the girl, or at least that's the only reason he'd allow himself to think of. She found it quite amusing and just allowed herself to be dragged off.

 

“I really appreciate all you've done. You even got sick because of all this.” Serin mumbled to the male as they walked down the hall to get to the stairs. Ranmaru was planning to go back to bed to hopefully feel better later. Serin was keeping him company until they reached the stairs before heading off to do work on their songs.

 

“Don't be ridiculous, I'm not sick.” Him sniffling didn't help Serin believe him any better, so she just smiled at him. She really wanted to think up a way she could help him feel better and to say thank you to him.

 

“Oh, I know!” Serin suddenly turned to the male with an even bigger smile. “I'll make you some soup to help you feel better!” With that, the female ran off leaving a very concerned male behind. He wanted to tell her to stop and that she didn't need to make him soup, but then he wondered if she was even capable of making him soup. Ranmaru wasn't sure if he should let her go off or if he needed to supervise her, but his choice was made when he got a bad feeling in his stomach that wasn't due to his cold.

 

“One of these days I really need to teach that girl how to cook so she doesn't burn down the place,” Ranmaru muttered to himself as he reluctantly began to walk towards the kitchen. He just hoped that she wouldn't accidentally poison him or anything. His fears were much worse as Serin very literally caught his soup on fire which caused him to need to go to her rescue. He wasn't sure how she caught a liquid on fire, but he now knew for sure that he needed to help the girl with her cooking. She wasn't just a danger to herself or the room, she was now a danger to him.


	9. Getting Closer: Camus

It's been a few weeks since Camus and Arcadia went on a walk together with his dog. From what Arcadia had told the other members of DAWN, they expected Camus to be slightly nicer to her, but his attitude didn't change at all. He was still rude to her and in turn, she was still rude to him. The pair fought with each other at random times, which bothered everyone around them. One moment they could be talking nicely and even seemed happy with each other, but then the next moment they would be throwing insults at one another. It finally all led to where they were now. Camus had said something insulting about Arcadia's loner-type personality which offended the girl. Instead of getting angry and yelling at him, Arcadia went silent and casually stood up and walked away from the man. Camus instantly knew that he had actually upset the girl and had a bad feeling begin to grow within him. It was guilt, but he, of course, refused to acknowledge it as that.

 

After a few days of the female not leaving her room, her roommate Serin began to be completely over the other girl not taking care of herself. Since Arcadia was a recluse by nature, she was completely fine with remaining in her room for a long period of time to watch anime or read manga. It was worrying to the other female so she questioned Arcadia multiple times about it, but the female wouldn't say anything until she finally got annoyed with Serin questioning her and told her that “Camus is an icy bastard”. Knowing who was the reason for Arcadia's sudden withdrawn behavior, Serin went after the man. She informed him that he was to fix her friend or else.

 

Of course, that didn't go well and it resulted in a full argument between the icy man and the concerned friend. It got to the point that Ranmaru had to step in and pull his companion away from Camus to ensure she didn't attack him or anything. However, she had gotten her message across and Camus had finally realized the full extent of what he'd done and knew that he had to make the emotionally wounded female feel better. He just wasn't sure how to go about it, so he went to the only person he could ask.

 

Camus couldn't trust Reiji to keep his mouth shut and he'd just be annoying to him, Ranmaru would just be an asshole to him and not help anything, so there was only one person left he was close enough to ask. Well, not really a person, but a robot; Ai. Ai had told him to take Arcadia somewhere that she'd like to be or to do a fun activity that she enjoyed. An act of kindness would be best for her type of person. His advice led Camus to an answer and also led him to Arcadia's door.

 

“So you want to take me ice skating, so I can learn to properly ice skate?” Arcadia was still sitting on her bed watching anime when the icy male knocked on her door. Serin had opened it and let him in despite Arcadia telling her friend not to. Camus had informed the female that he was going to take her to a skating rink for the sake of her poor ice skating abilities. He refused to say it was so he could help cheer her up, but Arcadia had heard about Serin's threats so she was aware that it's why he was making such a suggestion to her randomly.

 

“Correct. We will start tomorrow.” Camus turned to Serin and then began to speak to her. “Please ensure she takes a shower and wears warm clothing.” Camus then departed the room but spoke once more before closing the door. “I will be here at 9:00 am. Be ready.”

 

“Take a shower? How rude.” Arcadia grumbled to herself.

 

“No no, please. For the love of all the Gods and Satan himself, take a damn shower.” Serin retorted as she went to the side of the room furthest away from the other female to start some songwriting. Arcadia looked at her in confusion and then sniffed herself. She hadn't taken care of herself for a few days, so she was a little horrified at her smell.

 

“Oh, yep, need a shower.”

 

The next morning, all showered and dressed warmly, Arcadia stood outside of her room to wait for the blond male. It was around 8:45 when she left her room, so she figured she would be able to just stare outside for a few minutes. She was right, and it was exactly 9 in the morning when Camus approached her. Without any greetings, he motioned for the girl to follow him and so she did. He seemed a little grumpy in the morning so Arcadia wasn't sure how well any of this was going to go. They got into his car and his driver drove them to a skating rink that Camus went to when he wanted to skate. He had arranged the skates for the two of them and had them waiting for them for when they arrived.

 

“So, you're not going to let me die or anything, right?” Arcadia was worried about skating since her first and only time didn't go well. She couldn't stand up at all and she fell nearly every time she stood up.

 

“I won't let you die.” She could hear Camus rolling his eyes at her ridiculous question. He was underestimating how terrible she was at this.

 

The first few seconds of ice skating were great until Arcadia's feet were both actually on the ice. The moment both her skates touched the ice, she fell. It shocked Camus and he felt a little bad for not catching her since he was standing right next to her, so he helped her up. She then fell again, and again. No matter how many times Camus picked her up, she just fell instantly afterward. It was clear to the male that Arcadia was just getting more upset than anything, so he decided to pick her up one last time, but this time, he didn't let go of her hands. The pair skated around, holding hands with Camus skating backward. It was difficult but Camus was actually able to keep the girl standing and skating around in circles for a little while.

 

“I'm not falling!” Arcadia happily laughed as she held tight to Camus' hands. She was smiling at the male and was clearly excited. Her excitement caused Camus to smile back, but he quickly realized that he was smiling and stopped it. However, Arcadia had already seen and was now smiling even brighter than before. “You just smiled!”

 

“No, I did not.”

 

“Yes, you did.”

 

“Silence woman.” Camus angrily let go of the girl and moved to skate away from her, however, she, of course, still couldn't stand on her own. She reached for Camus, but tumbled forward and caused Camus to fall backward. Both were sent to the floor, with Arcadia on top of Camus. As they hit the floor both groaned in pain, however, Camus had taken most of the fall meaning he would probably have a bruise later on, not that he'd admit it.

 

“I think we should be done ice skating...” Arcadia hesitantly said as she tried to move away from the icy man. He instantly agreed and got up, bringing her up with him. Arcadia wasn't happy anymore, and it made Camus feel bad again, even though he was the one to get hurt in the end.

 

“This day is not over.” Camus didn't inform the female where they were going next. He wasn't really sure himself, it was just something he was thinking about at that moment. Once their skates were put away, the two got back into his car and Camus told his driver to drive them to a new restaurant that he had been wanting to eat at. It was a place that had private rooms where couples could talk and not have to worry about being listened in on by others around them. It was especially good for gay couples for them to avoid ridicule from any assholes in the restaurant.

 

“This seems really expensive, Camus. Are you sure that it's alright?” Arcadia hadn't been to many fancy restaurants in her life, so she was a little hesitant when she finally saw the place the male was taking her to.

 

“I said it's fine, so it's fine,” Camus responded, annoyed that the female wouldn't just shut up and enjoy it. Camus got them a private room to ensure that they could be themselves without worrying about any fans or anything else interrupting their time. Camus still wouldn't admit it, but he wanted to cheer Arcadia up more than ever now.

 

“So, are you alright after our fall earlier?”

 

“I believe so.”

 

“That's good. I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know I would fall that much.”

 

“It was amusing watching you fall. Until you took me with you.” His comment made Arcadia chuckle and at her laugh, Camus smiled. It was rare for him to smile without any hidden meaning behind it, so it made Arcadia's heart beat faster than normal.

 

Eventually, their waitress came to them and took their orders, however, the whole time she looked at Camus and paid no mind to Arcadia. Camus even had to tell the woman Arcadia's order as she wouldn't even listen to the other female. She even tried to flirt with Camus. It pissed off both of them but they didn't say anything. They decided to talk more about each other to learn more about who they really are. It was nice for them both. Camus was being his actual self, which was him being a cold asshole with just a little warmth towards the female. It made her feel special to have him act slightly more kind to her even when he knows he doesn't have to. Things were going well for them until the waitress returned with their food.

 

“Here's your food, sir.” The female said to Camus. She was clearly beautiful and it made Arcadia a bit self-conscious. The waitress was a busty black haired female with striking features. She knew she was beautiful, just as Arcadia knew that she wasn't. It didn't help that the woman kindly greeted Camus when she set down his food but ignored her presence as she rudely plopped Arcadia's food down, nearly spilling her drink from the shaking of her table. “Do you need anything else, sir? Maybe a better-looking date than this poor ugly little girl?” Camus instantly got infuriated. His face changed from mild annoyance to actual anger and was prepared to talk back to the woman, however, the sudden feeling of murderous intent coming from across the table stopped him. It was like Arcadia had an aura of ice around her as the room felt like it suddenly got significantly colder.

 

“Honey, I'm certain that the only one of us that's a 'poor ugly little girl' is you. I'm above hitting on random men and I'm definitely not the type of woman who would try to hit on a man who is clearly not interested. I feel sorry for you, but do us a favor and take your pathetic attempts at being a slut and go somewhere else. We'll call you if we need you.” Arcadia surprisingly kept a level head when she mostly politely told off the female. The calmness to Arcadia's words horrified the waitress, but still, she wanted to snap back at her or even slap her, but Camus stepped in.

 

“My date told you to leave. So go.” Camus demanded in his 'do-as-I-say' voice. The woman instantly fled from the room and announced that the pair would be getting another server instead of her. Once she was gone, Camus turned to the female in front of him. She was calming down now and was smiling again. “I'm surprised you didn't yell at her or declare she was a tramp.”

 

“Well, I was going to, but there's no point in falling to her level.” Camus was indeed shocked over how Arcadia handled the situation. Everything he had seen from the girl previously had told him she would go off on her and make a huge scene or at least say some pretty harsh words to make the woman cry. However, it didn't even seem like the woman's words affected her or anything. Camus felt like he was seeing a different side to Arcadia and he wasn't sure if it was good or not, but he liked it. He didn't realize she could handle something without getting overly upset.

 

“I have to apologize for my words the other day. I insulted you and I regret that.” Camus wasn't so honest very often and the fact that he'd just admitted he felt bad about something made it even odder. It made him feel something weird that only Arcadia could make him feel. He was now fully aware that being around Arcadia was causing him to develop feelings for the woman, and in turn, his attitude towards her was changing.

 

“It's alright Camus. You were right, but you said it so harsh that it hurt a lot more than it would have.” Arcadia was oblivious to the realization that Camus was having at the moment.

 

“Be mine.” Camus' sudden words shut the female up instantly. She looked at him with wide eyes and had her mouth open in shock. “You are romantically interested in me, and I have the same feelings for you. I have chosen to ignore them until now. So be mine.”

 

“Um... I mean... Sure?” Arcadia wasn't exactly sure what to say, but overall she was happy about the turn of events. “That means you are mine as well, right?”

 

“Of course,” Camus smirked at the female in front of him and she returned his smile. They knew they were still going to argue and insult each other, but now they were aware that their insults didn't have much anger or dislike behind them., but instead were just a way for the two to get along, even if it didn't seem like they were getting along.


	10. Happily Together: Reiji

It felt like forever, but Reiji and Adryn finally made it to the beach. They were to stay in one of the condominiums there that were literally only a few steps away from the sand. Adryn was thrilled to be there and was completely ready to tear off her clothes, put on her swimsuit and dive into the waters, despite her not being able to fully swim. Reiji was also thrilled to be able to finally do things as a couple. They had been so busy with working that they hadn't gotten a chance to do anything more than a few quick kisses.

 

So, both being overly excited, they quickly dropped their belongings off in their condo and changed into their swimsuits. Adryn wore a blue bikini top with black swim shorts and Reiji wore green and black swim trunks. Once they were dressed, they headed out to the beach. However, they quickly remembered to put on sunscreen so they paused to do that first. Now, ready for the beach the couple practically ran to the water. Thankfully, there were mostly just families around with young children so there weren't really many people who would recognize either of them.

 

“So, my darling, what shall we do first?” Reiji questioned the female at his side. Adryn smiled at her boyfriend and set down the beach bag she was holding. She then reached inside and pulled out a sandcastle making kit.

 

“I wanna build stuff.” It was surprisingly childish for the female to say, and it slightly shocked Reiji to see that she wasn't just a ball of anger and nervousness which most people saw her as.

 

“That's a great idea!” Reiji smiled brightly at the girl and sat down next to her bag. Following him, she sat down and opened up the kit before dumping it all out. There were shovels and buckets to mold the sand along with various other tools to play in the sand.

 

Seeing all of the brightly colored items, it drew in some young children along with their parents who were following them. Being kind people at heart, Reiji and Adryn allowed the kids to use their things and it turned into a huge sandcastle making party. Children and their parents joined in with Reiji and Adryn and they all made a large sandcastle, well more of a sand palace that even had a moat going around it.

 

Eventually, the couple decided to leave the sandcastle making supplies with the families that were using them and go off alone. Before they left, they took a few pictures of their creation with their phones so they could show their group members later on. Instead of wandering around aimlessly, the two seemed to be thinking the same thoughts and headed towards the same place without any words. Their destination was a little bar/beach shop on the sand a good ways away from the water. It was one of the places that were advertised in one of the brochures they'd gotten from the lobby of the condos.

 

“I guess we had the same ideas.” Reiji chuckled once he realized that his girlfriend had the same idea as he did, however, he was a bit shocked to find out that their ideas weren't exactly the same.

 

“We did have the same idea to come here, but...” Adryn smirked and began to walk away from him. “I came here to get some alcohol.” Reiji sighed but smiled as he watched her walk away. They had the conversation about alcohol a while ago. It was usually frowned upon to drink while in the dorms because of the underage people there, and also for the sake of the idol's reputation. However, it wasn't a hidden secret within Shining Entertainment that Adryn enjoyed drinking every now and then. Reiji wasn't into drinking too much, so he figured that she wouldn't return with anything for him.

 

Reiji, realizing that he was just standing there watching his girlfriend, headed into the shop part of the bar/beach shop. He looked all over for the perfect umbrella and was excited when he'd found the one he was searching for. It was big enough that both him and Adryn could comfortably lay under together, and it had side walls to give them extra privacy. As he was looking for that, he'd collected other things along the way. He found some cute novelty cups and other things he planned on using as souvenirs for the other three of QUARTET NIGHT.

 

“Hey, I was wondering where you went.” Adryn's sudden voice behind him slightly startled him. He was finally on his way to pay for the items he'd collected and nearly dropped a few of them when she spoke up.

 

“You startled me.” Reiji was chuckling, but he was genuinely freaked out. Adryn helped him carry a few of his things as an apology, while she was also carrying her bag with food and drinks now within it. “So what did you get us?”

 

“You'll see.” Now that he had help, Reiji was able to successfully check out all of his items and stuff them into the bag Adryn was carrying. He was now thankful for her deceptively large bag. He didn't think all he'd bought, minus the umbrella, would fit in her bag, but it turned out to be a bottomless pit.

 

Once the two left the shop they looked around for the best spot to set up their umbrella. Thankfully, most of the people were off to one side of the beach, so there were quite a few places to choose from. So, wanting the most privacy they chose a spot furthest away from the others. Reiji set up the umbrella while Adryn laid out their beach towels. She got finished quicker than he did, so she went over to him to help him. It took them over 10 minutes to figure out how to fully put the umbrella together. It would have gone faster, but the instructions blew away and disappeared so quick they had no chance of going after the sheet of paper.

 

“I think I could fall asleep like this.” Reiji declared as he leaned back against his towel once everything was finally set up. Adryn smiled and laid down on her towel as well. She was facing him, watching the relaxed look on his face, as he faced up with his eyes closed. Even though he couldn't see her, he was aware that his girlfriend was watching him. He quickly turned towards her and opened his eyes, catching her off guard, since she really didn't want to be caught staring at him. “Hey there,” Reiji smirked at how red Adryn's face was becoming.

 

“Uh... Hi?” Adryn wasn't quite sure how to react. The male wasn't looking at her like he usually did. He was looking at her in a less appropriate and serious way. “Just what is going on in your mind?”

 

“Do you really want to know?” His voice was teasing, which slightly concerned the female.

 

“I'm not sure anymore.” Adryn laughed in nervousness. Reiji just smirked at the girl before sitting up. He motioned for her to sit up as well, which she did, of course. She was still confused, but she trusted the male to not do anything crazy.

 

“You seem nervous, Adryn.” The female visibly jolted at the use of her name in such a different voice. It was a voice full of emotion, real emotion, unlike his usual tone.

 

“Well I mean when you talk and look like that, I'm gonna get freaking nervous.” Adryn was going to start panicking over the sudden change in his personality. He just smirked at her and reached out to grab a hold of her hand.

 

“Do you trust me?”

 

“I suppose so?”

 

“Close your eyes.” His smirking face was the last thing she saw before she hesitantly followed his command and closed her eyes. She had a feeling what was about to happen, but she still wasn't ready for it.

 

Reiji slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against Adry n's lips. It was such a cliche thing for them to think, but they could feel sparks when they kissed. The initial kiss didn't last long, at least not long enough for Adryn. As Reiji began to lean back, Adryn reached up and pulled Reiji back to her, before pushing her own lips against his. It felt like a dream, or more like finally fulfilling a dream. She had wanted to be close to him ever since she first developed a crush on him, and she was now finally getting to. The feelings she now felt made her almost believe in Ember's ranting about how true love existed.

 

Once the two got done kissing each other, they had remained under their umbrella for a little while longer. They chatted about various things, but eventually packed everything up and returned the umbrella. They had spent enough time in the heat and sand and had decided it was time to just go and get cleaned up. They took separate showers before changing into nicer clothes to go to a slightly fancy restaurant.

 

They had a fantastic dinner together, much to Adryn's surprise. It was quite romantic, which was something the female wasn't truly used to. Reiji had wanted to woo his girlfriend with the nice dinner and was extremely happy when his plan was a success. He had more plans as well, but since they already had such a busy day, he figured he'd just wait to put those plans into motion until another day.

 

“I really appreciate all you've done for me today.” Adryn shyly muttered to the brown-haired male on their way back to the condos. He proudly smiled at her and shook his head.

 

“I just wanted to show the woman I adore how much she means to me.” His words caused the blush to appear on Adryn's face once again. She was so embarrassed and had to look out her window to hide how red she really was, even though he probably wouldn't have been able to see it in the dim lighting of his car. The girl couldn't bring herself to say anything, so they remained in a comfortable silence the rest of the way to the condo.

 

Since they didn't really stay to look around either of the times they actually entered their condo, they spent some time adventuring around. They noticed that they had a little kitchen, along with two bathrooms, which they didn't notice before. They also finally realized that there was only one bedroom, and it had one bed; a king-sized bed.

 

“So... um... what?” Neither of the two could understand why Shining would get them a condo with only one bedroom with only one bed. It was almost like he knew that the two were going to end up together, even though they didn't even know it until that night in the car.

 

“I guess it's fine... I mean I do like cuddling as I sleep anyways...” Adryn shyly admitted to her boyfriend. “Just no inappropriate things. I will hurt you.” Reiji put up his hands to show he wasn't going to do anything, but his smirk didn't say anything innocent.

 

“Now now Adryn, I didn't know you were into such things.” His smirk was suggesting very inappropriate things, which caused the female to just glare at him.

 

“Hmm... Well, I guess that statement isn't necessarily untrue. I do have a thing with biting.” With that, the girl went into the bathroom to change into her sleeping clothes, leaving her now stunned boyfriend to stand in the bedroom.

 

“Huh? Wait, come back, you need to tell me more!” Reiji called out, his face dusted with pink; blushing over what the girl's statement meant. In response to his response, he could only hear his girlfriend laughing at his shock instead of giving him an actual response. Reiji would have to let it go for now, but he knew for sure that he would be asking her more about it later on. He couldn't just let something so fascinating about his girlfriend go so easily.


	11. Happily Together: Ai

All four of the QUARTET NIGHT members had decided to eat dinner together and were discussing their relationships with their partners. Reiji was having fun bragging about Adryn and his connection, Ranmaru talked about how hopeless Serin was at cooking and Camus talked about how his dog liked Arcadia much to his surprise. When it was Ai's turn, he informed the group that his relationship with Ember was going well, but he felt like there was something he needed to do to truly show he cared about her. He didn't want any advice, but Reiji took it upon himself to offer the robot assistance. 

 

"Well Ai-Ai, I heard from Adryn that Ember is a hopeless romantic, so you have to do something romantic for her to show how much you care," Reiji informed the romantically clueless male.

 

"Like what?" Ranmaru signed at how hopeless Ai was with the situation. 

 

"Take her somewhere she's really into, or do something for her that'd she'd really appreciate." Ranmaru chimed in surprisingly. "Anything that you think would make her happy."

 

"Wow Ran-Ran, for someone who's been single for so long, you sure know a lot about how to make a girl happy. How surprising!" Reiji teased his group mate, whom in turn just glared at him and snapped at him to shut up.

 

"I see..." Ai ignored the taunt towards Ranmaru and thought about what the silver-haired male said for a moment before standing up from his chair. "Thank you for the advice." With those words, Ai turned and left the room to begin planning for the amazing idea he came up with. He knew for certain that Ember would be extremely happy about what he was going to do for her. However, he couldn't help but feel something weird, which he found was being anxious, over his plan. This was the first romantic gesture he was planning, so he wanted everything to be perfect. He wanted to show Ember how much he cared for her through not only his words, but his actions as well.

 

A day and a few hours later, the sun had set and he was now guiding his lover to the location he chose for the date. He had put a blindfold over her eyes so he was leading her by holding her hand and informing her of obstacles in her path. He wanted it to be a complete surprise.

 

"Ai, where are you taking me?" Ember trusted the male, but she had been walking without seeing where she was going for quite some time. He had blindfolded her as soon as she left her room and even led her down the stairs, which was incredibly dangerous. Even so, she found his actions adorable and was very excited to see what he'd planned for her. Al he had informed her was that he was planning a date for the two of them and that she would need to be available on a particular night. So she had been looking forward to this for a few days now. She was as excited as he was anxious. 

 

"Ember, I was under the impression you were a very patient person." The female could hear a slight teasing tone to his voice, which caused her to smirk. 

 

"Not in situations where I'm actually excited over something. Then I'm extremely impatient." She could feel Ai nod his head in understanding. She couldn't help but smile at his actions. She was indeed hopelessly in love with the male, so she found nearly everything he did attractive and endearing.

 

"We're here, however you are not permitted to look yet. There are a few things I must complete now that you are here." Ember nodded her head but remained silent. She was listening to the sound of the area to figure out where she was.

 

She could hear the sound of water splashing, but that didn't narrow down where she was since there were a lot of places that had water around the area. She could hear Ai walking away from her and the sounds of crunching under his feet, which made no sense since it was Spring, not Autumn. She could also hear a click that sounded like a switch was flipped, and then the faint buzzing of electricity. After that, there were a few individual clicks. She knew for a fact that they were far enough away from the building, meaning there would be no power out here unless she was hearing Ai's body, which she didn't normally hear. She concluded that there must have been a generator somewhere close by to power lights of some sort since it would be weird to have a date in the total darkness when there was no full moon out that night.

 

"Ember," Ai was right next to her once again and his voice was low and calm, with a hint of nervousness within it. "You may now take the blindfold off." Ember carefully removed the blindfold to ensure she didn't pull at her long hair. Once the cloth was away from her face, she opened her eyes and gasped.

 

The two of them stood within the forest area surrounded by trees. Hanging on the tree branches were battery powered lanterns. They were purple and silver colored lanterns. However, around the whole area they were standing in, strings of little ice-cycle lights were strung up. Some were colored a beautiful soft purple and others were giving off a silver color. In the middle of the area designated by the lights stood a table and two chairs. The table was black with purple lights hanging from its edges. The chairs were also the same but with silver lights. On the table sat two plates with lids covering them. It was clear that they had just been put there since steam was coming off of them.

 

Even though the sun had already set, it was bright in the little area, but not too bright. Ember watched as Ai walked over to a radio and pressed a button. One of her all-time favorite songs began to play at a medium volume. With the music and the decoration of the area, it nearly brought Ember to tears. However, putting a pause in her tears, she was still a little confused over some things she'd heard previously, so she looked to the ground. Dead, but still colored, black and purple rose petals covered the ground along with some silver ones, making a path to the table and chairs before surrounding that specific area.

 

She began to look around to see what was making the water noise. It didn't take long at all before her eyes landed on a little pond. Ember wasn't sure the pond hadn't always been there, but as she got closer to it, she could tell it was recently put there by someone, probably Ai. She got even closer, to see that it wasn't just a pond, there were two koi fish swimming in the water. At first, she only saw one, since it's coloring was light and bright colors and the other one was darker colors that blended in with the bottom of the pond and the purple lighting that surrounded them.

 

"I had this area made specifically for you. You enjoy nature and get inspiration from it. All of this is yours to spend time in whenever you want. However, tonight it is the location of our dinner." Ai explained to the woman as he approached her quietly. Instead of responding, Ember threw her arms around the male and pulled him into a tight hug. She was so overwhelmed with happiness and love for him, she wasn't quite sure how to react to the situation. "Did I do well?"

 

"Ai, this is amazing. I can't... I... This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you." Ember was, once again, close to crying from joy. Ai smiled at her, a true and honestly happy smile, which brought a huge smile to his girlfriend's face. He could tell the waterworks were coming, which slightly horrified him since she hardly ever cried, so before the tears started, Ai decided to guide her over to the table where the food was. "You're going to eat too?" She knew Ai didn't always like to eat around other people since the ones that knew he wasn't human always questioned him about it.

 

"I am capable of consuming food, so yes, of course. It wouldn't be a complete date if I were not partaking in all aspects of it." Ember nodded her head and lifted the lid from her food. It was her favorite dish to eat. It was a mix of shrimp with fried noodles, and chicken with fried rice. Her eyes seemed to brighten once she saw the somewhat large dish in front of her. She could only assume that Reiji had made the meal since she never mentioned what her favorite food was to anyone other than Adryn. She didn't mind though, she was just thrilled that Ai would go so far to show how much he loves her. It made her truly happy to know that the person she loved, loved her back just as much.


	12. Happily Together: Ranmaru

Ranmaru was getting tired of waking up every other morning to find Serin wandering around the dorms hungry and just waiting for someone to wake up and make her food. There were even other days when she'd try to make herself some simple microwaved food but only ended up burning it and nearly catching something on fire. After he had to rescue her the first few times, he figured that she was truly just waiting for him to wake up and make her food. He wasn't bothered by that most mornings, but there were some days he was up before everyone else and wasn't able to make food for the female. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to make sure Serin had food in the mornings left an odd feeling within him. He didn't like it and decided to finally do something about it. 

“Serin!” The sudden yelling of her name caused the female to jolt and drop various papers she was holding. She momentarily glared at the male before she bent down to collect them. Ranmaru hadn't meant to cause her to drop things, so he bent down to pick up the papers that fluttered to his feet. 

“I was just coming to find you Ran-Ran. I have some more of our song done and wanted to show you. It's why I woke up so late today.” She seemed really excited about the work she'd done, however that wasn't what Ranmaru was after for that moment. 

“I'll hear it later. You haven't eaten yet, right?” It was already past noon, but the female had only been awake for an hour, so Ranmaru could only assume she hadn't eaten.

“Of course I haven't.”

“Good. Come with me.” The male proceeded to grab her wrist and pull her along with him. Any questions from the female about what was going on was ignored by the silver-haired male, which infuriated the female. 

“Ran-Ran, what's going on?” Her last question was finally answered by the opening of the kitchen door. 

“I'm going to teach you how to cook.” 

“Um... That's not going to end well.” Her statement was ignored by the male yet again, which caused her to glare at him. “Come on, I'm fine not knowing anything about cooking. I mean I've lived this long not cooking, haven't I?” It concerned Ranmaru how proud she sounded about that fact. He knew for certain that she lived alone before she arrived at Shining Entertainment, and he could only imagine the kinds of unhealthy foods the female consumed then. 

“You shouldn't give up before you try.”

“I'm warning you, this will end badly. You should make sure you have a fire extinguisher nearby.” 

Ranmaru should have listened to her warning. However, thankfully there was a fire extinguisher near them. Just like Serin predicted, it did go bad. She somehow caught the pan itself on fire. The food wasn't even in the pan, it had just been sitting on the stove to get it hot so they could begin cooking. It horrified both of them and caused Ranmaru to change his mind with trying to teach her how to cook. 

“So... I'm still hungry...” Serin earned a glare for her comment, but it wasn't only her stomach that began to growl. “You're hungry too...”

“We've both been banned from the kitchen now.” 

“I did warn you.” Ranmaru couldn't help but sigh at her comment. She was right, she had indeed warned him. “I guess we could go get something, I'll pay?” 

“Let's go to my apartment.” It was clear that it wasn't an option once Ranmaru spoke. He had no interest in going somewhere to get food when he could cook them food that was much better, plus he didn't have to deal with any fans on his day off. 

His sudden declaration had caught her off guard. So, she was left standing there confused as the male walked away from her. However, she quickly snapped out of her stunned state and followed after him. Saying they would go to his place for food was the last thing she expected, but she welcomed it. If Serin was honest with herself, she wasn't happy about this just because of food, she had heard about all the bass guitars the male had. She had been wanting to see them for a little while now, so her want for food was temporarily forgotten.

It didn't take too long to get to his apartment. Ranmaru drove surprisingly fast, which was mostly due to him being extremely hungry at the moment since they never were able to get anything to eat before being banned from the kitchen. Once the pair got there and entered his residence, the female was led to the room where all his “girlfriends” were and told to just not break anything. Usually, Ranmaru would tell the girl to help him make food, but he'd had enough of nearly burning to death in one day, so he handled the food by himself. 

Serin was in awe over all of the guitars and how different yet similar they all looked. She made sure to stay away from them and not physically come into contact with them since the last thing she wanted to do was hurt one of them. They were precious to Ranmaru and he was precious to her. 

“Oh wow...” That thought had caused her face to burst out in a blush. She had been trying hard to not be too fangirl-ish around the silver-haired male. She was content with just being friends with him and she didn't want to scare him off or anything. 

“Why is your face red? You look like a tomato.” Serin spun around in shock to look at the male standing in the doorway. 

“I... I don't know what you're talking about...”

“Sure,” Ranmaru looked at her like she was crazy, but ultimately chose to ignore the obvious lie. “Food is ready. If your done doing whatever it is that you're doing, then come on.”

Serin followed the male as she felt the redness fade from her face. Thankfully, the two were able to finally eat a peaceful lunch, even though it was now quite a few hours later than they'd originally planned. They didn't speak much through the meal, other than a few positive comments from Serin about how much she always loves eating Ranmaru's cooking. Once the pair was done eating, they cleaned up and headed to the room with all of Ranmaru's guitars once again. 

“Why are you so fascinated with my bass guitars?” 

“Well, these are a part of who you are, and you make such beautiful music with them.” Serin's honesty caused not only her to blush, but the tops of Ranmaru's ears also turned red. She didn't notice it much to his relief, but it only got worse as she continued. “You also look really cool when you're playing them and you always look so much happier when they are around you. Plus, your style is awesome and they seem to compliment your personality and style pretty well.” 

Serin got no response, so she turned around to see what the issue was. She couldn't help but gasp at the sight. Ranmaru was turned slightly away from her and was covering most of his face with his hand. Under his pale hand, Serin could clearly see the redness of his blush that was covering his face. 

“Ran-Ran, are you okay?” He simply held up his other hand and turned fully away from her. After a moment of collecting himself, he was able to face the female again, with a less blushing face. 

“This isn't the first time I've ever heard someone say that to me, but for some reason it made me feel a lot different.” Ranmaru opted to be honest about his feelings since Serin was so honest about hers. 

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” 

“Do you... Do you like me? As in romantically?” The female walked over to him and looked up into his eyes. His eyes showed confusion and hesitancy, however, his actions spoke even louder than his eyes. Instead of using his mouth to respond to the girl, he leaned over and kissed her. 

“Did that answer your question?” Serin, however, couldn't respond as her face turned fully red. It unnerved the male as he'd never seen someone turn that red before because of him. “Serin?”

“I'm fine!” She blurted out, causing Ranmaru to jolt. “Can you um... can you do that again?” 

“I'll be doing that a lot more now since you're my girlfriend.”

“As is a real girlfriend, or am I the same type of girlfriend as your guitars?”

“I don't kiss my guitars.” Ranmaru seemed almost annoyed to have to say that, but his annoyance faded once his girlfriend began to giggle at his comment. He leaned back down to reconnect their lips but smiled internally. He wasn't sure how well it would all go, but he would put trust in this female and hope it didn't end as badly as his other relationships.


	13. Happily Together: Camus

Since Arcadia and Camus began to officially date, things slightly changed with them. They both still argued and bickered with each other, but it was different now. With the usual bickering, came a better reconciliation along with that, their arguments didn't last nearly as long as they had before. Their arguing wasn't the only thing to change, Camus had begun to be more of a gentleman around her and to her. At first, Arcadia thought that he was just pretending, but she soon realized that with his affection came a whole different version of Camus. 

Today was just another example of his change in personality. Camus offered to have Arcadia over at his apartment to have brunch with himself and Alexander. It was a surprise considering he didn't invite her over very often, but nonetheless, she accepted his invitation and arrived at his doorstep right when he told her to. He was alone in the apartment with his dog when she arrived, and the food was sitting out, freshly cooked and ready to eat. She wasn't sure if he cooked the food or if someone else did, but she didn't bother asking. 

“This was a nice idea, Camus. I appreciate being invited over here.” Arcadia informed the male as they sat on his couch after their meal. Alexander was in between them with his head laying on the female's lap. She was gently stroking his fur as the couple spoke to one another. 

“I had motives of my own by inviting you, so don't thank me yet.”

“What do you mean?” She began to become slightly nervous at his statement.

“Soon after we started dating I was offered a job as a model for a product. That isn't anything new of course, however, the nature of the commercial could be viewed... inappropriately by you, as you are now my lover.”

“Uhh...” Arcadia still didn't follow what he was saying, however, he directed her attention to the television in front of them. 

On the screen were Camus and a very attractive female. The product they were showing off was a specific perfume and cologne pair, for lovers. Both Camus and the female had seductive type clothing on and were close together, to act as lovers in the 20-second commercial. 

“I chose to not inform you of the commercial until Kotobuki told me that there was a possibility that you may be less than happy with this. I then was concerned that you would get needlessly annoyed or angry with me. So to avoid any arguments, I decided to show you the commercial myself as it debuted.” It took Arcadia a few moments to respond. She was too caught up in watching the commercial. Once it ended, she decided to speak. She stopped petting Alexander, as it seemed that the dog knew something was coming and got off the couch and exited the room.

“I am angry...” Camus looked over at her, mentally preparing for some form of an apology he'd now have to speak. “I'm angry that you're so damn attractive in that!”

“Pardon me?”

“I mean seriously, it isn't fair that you look like that, especially with such a beautiful woman next to you. I can't believe you didn't tell me. You robbed me of the wonderful time I could have spent watching you when you looked like that in person.” Camus was stunned into silence. It nearly slipped his mind that his girlfriend was infatuated with his appearance. However, he couldn't help but be happy. He had been concerned that she'd be put off by the commercial in some way.

“You know, you are attractive as well, so you shouldn't be acting so starstruck towards me.” 

“What? I may look pretty-ish, but you're insanely beautiful!”

“Silence woman, you are beautiful as well.”

It wasn't something either of them expected, but a full-blown argument/debate was brought about from their comments. Camus was convinced that while he was attractive, Arcadia was equally as attractive as him.

“I don't really get why you think I'm so beautiful. I'm just average at best. I'm shy, and soft-spoken most of the time. I've been told that I'm even a little overweight. I'm not even near beautiful.” Camus didn't like her saying that and it showed on his face. He frowned and turned to her, taking her hands in his. 

“Arcadia, I don't tell this to people often, and you know how I feel about other people. If I tell you that you're beautiful, then you are. You are a very beautiful person, inside and out. Your weight doesn't determine if you are beautiful or not.” The female couldn't help but sniffle as she began to cry. All her life she'd been told how ugly she was. She had never been told by anyone before that she was beautiful. 

“Thank you, Camus.”

“I only told the truth.” His words caused Arcadia to smile at him. Camus reached up from her hands to a few strands of hair that'd fallen in front of her face. He pushed her hair behind her ears before he leaned towards her. He hesitated before their lips met and looked into her eyes. Her face had gone red, and her eyes showed that she was a little nervous about how close he was now to her. “May I kiss you?”

“Please...” Arcadia whispered to the male. He smirked and closed the distance between them. Arcadia didn't know if it was because she was so nervous and excited, but she could swear that there were sparks once their lips touched. There were sparks, and then there was nothing. 

“...dia? Arcadia?” Camus' concerned voice woke the female, as she shot up from her laying down position. 

“Um, what?”

“You fell unconscious.” The female could see that the male was unnerved by that fact, and possibly a little embarrassed over the situation. 

“Oh my god...” If Camus was a little embarrassed, then Arcadia was mortified. Her face instantaneously turned bright red as she gasped. Her hands flew to her face as she tried to hide in them. “I am so sorry Camus. I didn't think I'd faint after kissing you.”

“I must admit, it startled me. No woman has fainted after kissing me before. You sure are a special one, Arcadia.” He smiled at her, clearly making an attempt to make her feel better. She couldn't help but chuckle as she began to calm down. 

Once both were passed the fainting, they remained on his couch. They decided to just watch some older shows that their friends had appeared in. To Arcadia's surprise, Camus was all right with a little bit of cuddling. He allowed her to lean against him and even wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. It made her feel extremely special that this cold male was so warm with her, well most of the time at least.


	14. Epilogue

All of the group members of QUARTET NIGHT and DAWN were summoned, once again to Shining's office. It was a day that they all had off, and were finally able to take a small break from the constant jobs they'd all been having. They all thought that they were finally able to have a peaceful day with their lovers, and just relax, however, they were wrong, for the moment at least.

 

“So, you're telling me that this duet project has resulted in all of you finding a lover? Did any of you even remember what the goal was? This was to get along better with your own group members.” Shining demanded, wanting to hear it from the others themselves, instead of just gossip from Ringo or Hyuga.

 

“Um, well, I think we get along better.” Ember offered as an attempt to explain.

 

“You always got along with people in the first place. Someone else try.”

 

“Our bad? I mean, honestly, you wanted us to get along better didn't you? We all get along well now.” Adryn spoke up as her sister had no other words to give the irritated man.

 

“I wanted you all to get along with your group members.”

 

“Well, we actually do now, sir,” Arcadia spoke up, slightly less quiet than she'd normally speak.

 

“Yeah, I don't want to punch Adryn's stupid face anymore,” Serin spoke up, smirking at how angry that comment made Adryn. However, the female didn't respond to her group mate, instead, she just chose to glare at her. “See, if she and I didn't get along as well, she probably would have hit me for that one.”

 

“I still might.” Came the bitter response from Adryn. Reiji, at Adryn's side, couldn't help but chuckle at her response. His laughing drew in a few of the other's as well, as laughter broke out in the room.

 

“I guess I have no choice but to say that this is fine, considering how last time you all were arguing.” He turned around to face the windows and smirked. He was honestly alright with how things had turned out. Shining didn't truly mind that they all had ended up dating someone if anything it would help the two groups work together even better than they were before. It wasn't his intention, but the results were better than he'd hoped for.

 

The four couples were grateful for the chance to find happiness with each other. They weren't sure how things would go for any of them in the future, but they knew that they would enjoy the time they had together, while they were all still there. They only knew one thing for certain, they were finally all eager and willing to make music and work with their group members, instead of just tolerating their jobs together. They were all glad that they could now more than tolerate the presence of their group members, meaning they could now be more successful than they'd been. Things had ended up better than anyone could have wished for, and they were all thrilled over that.


End file.
